Maman
by Tyranno's girl
Summary: 'I looked out at the town that used to be my home... In ten short years, after I lost two of the most important people to me, things had changed so much...' The change that a cold, harsh tyranny will have on this land... No crying till the end.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello everyone! * bows * Thank you for coming by my small, insignificant fic. I say that, but I am happy to announce that this will be my first PruCan themed fic! Woot! **

**Anyway, let me give some background. This fic will be based on the story line for the **_**awesome**_** game ****Mother 3****. And, yes, there was a ****Mother 1**** (a.k.a 'Earthbound Zero') and a ****Mother 2**** (more commonly known as 'Earthbound'). Yeah, but I mostly wanted to write this fic for two reasons. **

**One, I wanted to make a contribution to the PruCan community. **

**Two, the story-lines for these games are so… Amazing! I'm just sick of people not knowing about them because Nintendo of America are a bunch of idiots! But anyway, yeah… **

**Warnings: This AU story will eventually include use of human names, some violence, mature situations, strong language, fantasy elements (I guess is what you can call them…), very few OCs (I know, but Hidekazu-sama has only **_**so**_** many nations) and instances of **

**PruCan**

**FrUk **

**LietPol **

**GerIta **

**TurkeyxGreece (Le gasp, right?) **

**Spamano **

**And some very deeply hinted * cough * RussAme * cough * You didn't see that last one, though! **

**Oh well, let's get started shall we? **

**Disclaimer – Oh, yay! As if I haven't done enough of these by now. Tyranno's girl Productions has no type of ownership claims to ****Hetalia**** or to the ****Mother**** series. They are owned by Hidekazu Himaruya and Shigesatou Itoi respectively. **

* * *

><p>One day, you tell yourself, 'Huh. I have some spare cash and some room in my house. I feel like going to a vintage store!' So you go downtown and see what one of said stores has to offer. As you look around the aged everyday items, you can't possibly realize the stories that they have to tell.<p>

For instance, you look on the sitting chair and notice that it's covered with an old tattered cape. You pick it up, determined to throw the raggedy thing away, but… You stop. The fabric is so soft, and it feels _so_ warm. You take a deep breath and the faint smell of cinnamon and campfires fills your nose at the same time as a soft song fills your mind…

"_Take a melody… _

_Simple as can be… _

_Give it some words, and, _

_Sweet harmony…"_

But, you don't feel like going through _that_ story. Or spending money that cape, for that matter. So you move along, seeing myriads of things displayed for sale by their old owners. Then, you see it. 'It' is a classic, shiny red with flower and flame engravings, electric-guitar. It's quite intriguing, so much to the point that you run your fingers long the engravings. Then, after looking to make sure no one was watching, you strum the still-tightened strings. As you do, another song fills your senses…

"_I have not lived long as most _

_Adults have… _

_I don't have much in my small, _

_Red backpack…"_

But, then again… You never were _that_ musical of a person anyway. So you leave the guitar alone in favor of going further into the store. Now, you find yourself going towards the book-section. Maybe a good read is what you were looking for today? So you walk towards the haphazardly stacked shelves and look at the spine of book after book after book, trying to find something interesting…

"Ow!" You hiss as something falls onto your head. After the stinging subsides from pain to annoying, you look down and see the culprit: a good-sized sketching diary. As you pick it up, you can see that the edges of the pages are yellowing with age. Each page has fading images of animals, creatures straight out of the realm of fantasy, and people. As you turn the pages, a new song comes into mind…

"_In a distant town… _

_As the dark grows deep. _

_Unfamiliar words resound, _

_Whispered and meek."_

You shut the book and quickly walk to the cashier. "Are you sure you want this book?" The cashier asks as they ring you up, "It's already drawn in and stuff." You nod and pay the person before you walk out, taking the diary with you, determined that this is the story that you want to go further into.

* * *

><p>Back in your home, you open the diary back up; allowing the story that it holds to bring you into its world… A world of tragedy, heartbreak, friendship, tyranny, love, and of the bond of family.<p> 


	2. Arthur Part 1

_Welcome to our story. We should probably get you familiar with our characters shouldn't we? Well, if you look towards that large farmhouse with the rose bushes in front of it and the mini- Maple trees on the sides, you should see them soon. _

Out of the house, first comes a man dressed in coarse farming-clothes and a cloak covering his shoulders that had a strange pattern of red, blue, and white on it. His short blonde hair is scruffy and messy as he brushes some away from his forest green eyes. He yawned before furrowing his bushy eyebrows and calling back towards the door for someone.

_This is Arthur Kirkland: Farmer, self-proclaimed wizard, and stern but kind father. A handsome young man with a lot of character, but no, our story isn't about him. Let's try again._

Next out of the door was another man. He was blonde also, but his hair cascaded down to his shoulders in silky waves. He had a bit of stubble around his chin, but it was hardly noticeable with the rest of his wonderful mixture of beauty and handsome looks. Honestly, if it weren't for that stubble (and the fact that he was a head-higher than Arthur) he could have probably passed for a woman. His blue eyes smiling, he blew a kiss to Arthur (the other blushing and sputtering in response) before he called back into the house.

_Francis Bonnefoy was this man's name. A home-maker mostly, but he was far better known for throwing parties, being a mother-figure, cooking delicious food, and growing the most beautiful roses anyone had ever seen. Nice… But this isn't about him either. And the hunt begins again._

With an excited hoop and a holler, a small toddler rushed out of the house; a travel-bag in tow. He had corn-yellow blonde hair, sky blue eyes that reflected a fiery attitude, and a bright smile. The most noticeable detail about him was a bit of hair that seemed to curl straight up, despite how many times his parents tried to brush it down.

_Here we have little bitty Alfred. An energetic little guy, isn't he? Well, still, this little fire-cracker isn't our star player. Don't worry, we're almost there._

Right by the door of the farm-house, there was a little dog-house that had been built. But when Alfred knocked at the roof, it wasn't a dog that jumped out. Hell, the being couldn't even _jump_ out. A large, white, furry lump pressed up against the door and pushed forward until the front part of its body was revealed. A small, fat polar bear was trying to get free from its house but its big behind was stuck in the door.

_Kumajirou. Occupation: Eating, Sleeping, searching for food, and searching for places to sleep. …A story about him wouldn't be that scintillating of a read. But wait, what's this? Look closer… _

Out of the door, lugging his own travel-bag behind him, was another small toddler; about the same age as Alfred. His blonde hair was the color of white gold in certain lights, and his eyes were amethysts; sparkling and wide. He had a curl, much like Alfred's, but his curled twice to the side and refused to go down. Arthur patted his head, after making sure which boy was which, and then he walked behind Francis. However, Kumajirou glomped him to the floor, growling something that almost sounded like 'Food?'

_You see the meek little boy being tackled by the fat polar bear. That's Matthew. And this is _his_ story._

* * *

><p>It was a dark night, the kind when skies were filled with thick clouds, lightening occasionally striking through to ruin the grey pattern with shocks of yellow and white. Rain fell to the earth in thick torrents, swamping the grounds and causing any living thing to rush for cover. There was no sane reason why anyone would be out on this night.<p>

Yet, the faint sounds of hooves on a muddy road could be heard. There is a horse rushing through the harsh conditions, with caramel fur and chocolate mane, ankles, tail, and snout. Despite its fear, the beast is forced on by its rider…

* * *

><p>"Thank you for letting us stay here, Sadiq." The rain was causing trouble in the neighboring villages as well as the nature around them. Some of the houses were succumbing to the rain and flood waters and they forced some villagers to take shelter in their neighbors' sturdier houses. Sadiq was a merchant who worked in bartering goods, so he was able to import better materials to build his house. Yet, he also had another <em>means<em> of work, but that was secret. He nodded as he allowed a young, pretty brunette woman dressed in white and had golden rings in her hair to walk in; her only bundle being the child accompanying her who looked almost like a mini her, except the being a boy and the distinct lack of jewelry.

"Nah, don't think anything of it. Just stay here until this storm passes." The tanned brunette man looked out of the window, clicking his tongue he sighed, "Damn, this rain ain't lettin' up." All of a sudden, the woman perked up and gasped,

"Oh! I forgot Heracles's blanket!" She rushed to the door and, before she walked out, asked, "Sadiq, could you take care of him until I get back?"

"Yeah…" Sadiq huffed with a smile, looking at the little boy on his couch. "I wouldn't mind watchin' him for a while." The brunette woman smiled and walked out, stating,

"I won't be long.", before she went out into the night. When he was by himself, he noticed Heracles looking at the cat that had walked in from the storm via that cat-door that Sadiq had built (what, cats were cheap pest-control).

"So… Ya like cats, huh?" In response to that, Heracles simply grabbed the cat close to himself and rolled up for a nap, leaving Sadiq alone again.

Heracles's mother would never return.

* * *

><p>The horse's rider, a young woman with skin fairly tanned skin and long black hair rushing behind her (a bit of it curling straight up) was rushing the horse onward. A bolt of lightning crashed down, splitting a tree in two; the larger piece falling towards beast and mistress. The horse whinnied out it's fear, but the woman frowned as she reached her hand in the direction of the tree… A strange, unknown energy surrounded the tree, suspending it in mid-air. That was until the woman quickly moved her hand to the side, the tree flying a mile in the same way. When the tree was gone, she ushered the horse on.<p>

* * *

><p>"I'm <em>SO<em> bored!" In a large castle that over-looked the village below, there was currently lesson going on. Or, rather, a lesson _trying to be taught_ by a young woman to two young boys. One of them was dressed in all white and black and had messy white hair and a bored look in his red eyes.

The other, the younger, had his short blonde hair combed back and hidden underneath a black hat that matched his black clothing. His sapphire blue eyes looked up at his brother and whispered, "East… You're going to get Katyusha mad."

"It's not my fault that this lesson is so unawesome, West." The albino huffed, but then he smirked and called out, "It's not like we can see anything past her boobs anyway!" The woman, Katyusha, stopped her writing and covered her large… _endowment_ with a light yelp.

"Stop saying such embarrassing things!" She yelped as she tried to go back to her lesson and tried to drown out the sounds of the powerful rain outside.

* * *

><p>The horse had made it to the edge of a river, where it ran along the rushing water, trying to find a means to cross. The rider was really unnerved because she wasn't just trying to get somewhere, she had a parcel to deliver. She looked down and saw the contents of the basket that she carried squirming and whining. She closed the basket up tight, then snapped the reigns lightly: preparing the horse to jump. The horse barely took a single step back before another bolt of lightning hit the water in front of them, the spectacle causing the horse to neigh loudly and rear back. The swift action was completely unexpected and resulted in the woman being hit by her horse's head, knocking her off the animal's back and onto the ground. Unfortunately, the back of her head hit a jagged rock, ending her life and sending the basket flying into the river.<p>

Fortunately, the basket was light enough that it would float. Yet, the rapids of the river were so intense, the parcel would be ripped apart soon anyway. However, just as the basket made its way towards the first rock, a bubble of invisible energy surrounded the basket and it bounced off that rock and continued to shield it as it traveled down the river until, out of nowhere, an otter bounced its head against the bubble and sent it flying into the air.

The basket was surely going to splash into the water, but the water was abruptly converted into snow, providing a soft _bounce, bounce, bounce_ before it landed on the riverbank. For quite a while, it seemed like the basket was going to stay there, abandoned, in the cold, rainy night.

A rustling: something moving against tree trunks and branches. A growl: deep and hungry. The sounds that could be hear beneath the pouring rain before a mass lumbered out of the forest growth. It was a large, milky-white polar bear. She was sniffing around for a midnight snack; trying to see if any fish had been washed up on shore. Until, that is, she found the basket. She blinked before she padded over and nudged the basket, receiving a whine. Then, out of the covering, a small hand reached out towards the large being. The bear blinked and nudged her snout that much closer, stepping back when the hand glowed white for a second and then went back inside. The bear only nodded before she grabbed the handle of the basket with her mouth and waddled away.

The she-bear walked along down the roads and back way paths of the village and surrounding forest until she made it to her destination. It was a large farmhouse with a blue-shingled roof, a cherry-wood door, and a row of rosebushes that led to the door. The bear was making her way through the rain, unaffected, focused until she arrived at the front steps leading to the door.

The bear huffed as she placed the basket on the doorstep and was about to turn and leave when something clicked in her mind. She ruffled her furry coat for a second, searching for something, when it fell from her. A small polar bear cub rolled out onto the floor from his warm haven. The she-bear grasped it by the scruff of its neck and laid him down in the basket, making sure that it wasn't squashing anything. With a final lap of her tongue across the cub's head, the she-bear made her departure.

The only sounds that were heard besides the rainfall were coos, whines, and growls as the basket moved and fidgeted. The noises got to be so much that the front door opened, an irate blonde with the bushiest-looking eyebrows that you had ever seen screaming, "Isn't it bad enough that I have to deal with all this rain but now I have a racket in front of my door?" He was about to yell again when two arms circled around his waist, a new voice cooing,

"Arthur, come back to bed mon amour…"

"Get off of me, Francis! I –" Completely ignoring him, Francis popped his head out of the doorway and asked, even with dripping water sliding down his golden, wavy hair,

"What's that?" Arthur stopped his complaining long enough to see what his lover… wife… husband… over-affectionate room-mate… whatever you want to call him… was talking about. When his eyes landed on the basket, he slowly walked over,

"Is it a package?" He picked up the parcel, "But who in their right mind would – Ah!" Arthur nearly dropped the package when it began squirming and whining again. "What the bloody hell is this?"

"Arthur, you always over-react." Francis grabbed the basket away and wasted no time in removing the covering and revealing… "Sacré bleu…" His blue eyes widened in genuine shock and surprise as he looked over the contents of the basket. Two infant boys and a small polar bear cub. The babes were both blonde and clad in only slightly over-sized, white night-shirts that covered them down to their feet. One of the squirmed again and the dam broke. "Oh how cute! Who's a cute petite bebe? Ah? You are, that is right!" Arthur huffed, immediately agitated with how Francis was acting,

"Francis! Stop fawning over them like they're yours!"

"But come now Arthur! Surely this is some sort of miracle for them to be left on our doorstep above all others!" Francis replied before shoving the basket in Arthur's face. Green eyes narrowed as they surveyed the basket. Honestly, where do people get off? Leaving their children and pets inside of baskets on random people's porches… He already had Francis to take care of, he couldn't possibly –

"Wait a tick…" He moved the cover aside some more and saw that one of the babies wasn't moving that much. Well, he was shivering, but that was it. Parental instinct took over and he pressed his lips against the child's forehead, recoiling instantly, "He's freezing! Francis, I'm not sure how much fight this one has in him… Especially from being out in this God-forsaken cold."

The two men began talking (arguing) about what to do, not at all noticing how the first baby reached a hand out towards his brother. A small, warm light radiated from small fingers and just as it had appeared, it was gone.

"What he needs is some nice chicken soup!"

"You're daft, warm cider cures all ails and –" Arthur was interrupted yet again when a soft crying filled the air. Both adults looked down and saw that both infants were now cooing and fussing with the cub's fur, as if nothing was wrong in the least. "Well, that was… unexpected." Arthur tried to figure out what could have happened when, out of the blue, a whisper of,

"I'm keeping them." Got into his ear. He jumped away, wiping the poor appendage and huffed,

"Fine. But _you_ had better keep an eye on them!" Francis smirked, relishing that he had won. He looked at the two babies and he began,

"Now as for names… I am thinking for you…" Poor Francis didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence when Arthur walked over and tapped the head of one of the babies, the one with the smoother blonde hair that had a small curl sticking straight up.

"Alfred."

"Pardonnez-moi?"

"His name. Alfred." Francis only frowned,

"That name is so proper! What kind of child will that name grow?"

"You can name the other one whatever you want, but I'm naming at least one of my kids and his name will be Alfred!" After that outburst, Arthur was left panting. But Francis merely smiled,

"_Your_ kids?" Arthur was trying to start another bout until he realized that he had been had. He merely slumped his shoulders down and sighed,

"Just name the other one so we can go inside, I'm freezing here and I'm sure that the kids are too!" Francis looked into the basket at the other baby, whose hair was just as blonde as his brother, but it was wavy and the curl on his head was longer. Francis kissed the babe's cheek and whispered,

"Mathieu…"

"Great, so maybe we can get Alfred and Matthew in the house before we all catch our deaths?" Though he agreed, Francis shook his head,

"You always have to ruin a moment, don't you?"

"In!" Arthur pointed towards the door, "Now!"


	3. Arthur Part 2

Rolling fields of verdant green grass…

Majestic mountains capped in snow…

Vast valleys of jagged, golden stone; precious materials shining through the earth…

And, surrounding it all, a beautiful, sapphire ocean.

This was the only place that the inhabitants of this land called home: The Sanctu Islands. There weren't many places on this island that one could go to. There was the main village of Mirror Falls where most people lived and worked was in the center of it, and there was a castle looming over that area; nestled on top of a not too treacherous cliff.

But let's focus not on the village, but on a small house located in one of the lower valleys. It was decorated in light blues and reds and there was a small pear tree on the side that just would never get any bigger than a few feet and only produced three fruit a year.

Inside, working at preparing lunch in the kitchen, Francis hummed to himself as he ground some beef, seasoning it just so. He moved on to mixing a bowl of flour, cinnamon, and a few pinches of other ingredients into a thin batter. He was about to start on another meal when he caught himself.

"Oh yes, that's right." He chuckled, "Arthur is still back at home on the farm. Stubborn little fool…" Francis and his two sons, Alfred and Matthew, were currently visiting his good friend Jeanne. He had been close friends with her since she had saved him from being bullied by Arthur back in their grade-school days. They had even had a brief relationship before Jeanne decided to call it off. They were still close to each other, though. Some people may find cooking messy, but it was one of the blonde's simple pleasures.

He formed a small disc of the meat mixture and placed it in a frying pan, a sizzling sound filling the air along with a delicious smell. In another frying pan, that had been slightly greased with butter, he poured some of the batter; the mixture slowly begging to puff up and brown.

"Arthur… You should have come with us." Francis sighed as he flipped both the meat and the cake.

* * *

><p>"<em>Yay! We get to go to Auntie Jeanne's! We get to see Auntie Jeanne!" The two small boys were cheering, almost bouncing off the walls at the prospect of seeing their mother's close friend. Arthur looked on at his family, his heart feeling heavy for some strange reason. He sighed, <em>

"_Do you have to go this week?" Francis blinked, sending Alfred and Matthew to go play with Kumajirou. Licking his lips, he sidled up close to his lover and asked, _

"_Arthur… Are you going to miss me?" Bushy eyebrows furrowed when Francis was able to sneak a quick kiss of the lips. Arthur fumed, _

"_As if I would miss you, bloody frog! I'm just worried about Alfred and Matthew falling behind in their studies." _

"_So you say…" Francis hummed. "Oh well, time to get going. Alfred, Matthieu! Let's get going, oui?" The two small boys rushed over, Kumajirou slowly waddling behind. After making sure that they were all prepared, they started off, Francis calling back, "Take care of my roses, mon amour! They need a loving touch, so you'll have to work twice as hard!" _

"_Why I—" Arthur wanted so to respond to that, but one of their goats had just gotten loose and was making a bee-line for one of the rose beds. "Damn it! No, get away from that!"_

* * *

><p>That had been the previous morning. From their house in Mirror Falls, the trip to Jeanne's house took the better part of a day and both boys had been completely tuckered out. In fact, even though he was working on lunch, Matthew was still upstairs sleeping. Alfred was always a fireball of energy, so he had been outside all morning. Especially when Jeanne told him that the nearby Serpas had just had a new baby, Francis could barely hold the boy down long enough to brush his hair.<p>

"But those are children for you."

* * *

><p>The sparse grass outside crunched and crackled as small feet ran through it. When they stopped, five year old Alfred smiled as he took in a deep breath and yelled, "MATTHEW~! Come on, wake up lazy-head! You're going to miss the baby Serpa <strong>( 1 )<strong>!" The energetic boy fidgeted from foot to foot, a habit he often did when he was waiting for something, before he yelled for his brother again.

It was upstairs, in the smallest guest room, where the younger twin, with his wavy hair and shy nature, was still sleeping. He probably would have been able to sleep on if not for one exceptionally loud "MATTIE~!" All at once, amethyst eyes opened up, the small frame nearly jumping out of the bed.

"What? What's going on? Who's yelling?" When another yell sounded, he sighed, "Alfred…" But nonetheless, he slowly made his way to the staircase. The problem was that Matthew was still drowsy and he probably would have tripped and fallen over his own feet if he didn't have the wall as a guide. The smells of delicious cooking told his still sleepy brain that he had made it to the kitchen. "Bonjour Maman…" He stated with a yawn, "I'm going to go play with Alfred…" Francis glanced over and immediately rushed over, shooing the boy back up the stairs via a spatula on the behind.

"Oh no you don't. You can't go play outside in your pajamas, now can you?" Matthew had to ask, his mind still in a fog,

"Wha..? Pajamas..?"

"Oh mon Coeur…" Francis chuckled, gently pushing Matthew into the guest room. When they were in, the older blonde tugged at the small boy's double curl.

"Wah~! Stop, that feels weird~!" Matthew slapped his mother's hand away and blinked as he looked around. "Where am I and…" He looked down, "Why am I still in my pajamas?"

* * *

><p>After that confusing scene, Matthew finally had managed to get dressed for a day of playing (with help from Francis off course). He was dressed in a white shirt, mahogany shaded pants, and a small white cape that was covered in red Maple leaf designs. After making sure his pants were pulled up, Matthew rushed downstairs <em>again<em> and was only stopped when Francis called over, "Your hair is a mess, mon coeur! Here," He turned away from the food and took a brush out from his pants pocket. "Let me help."

Matthew beamed and he quickly made his way over, holding his arms up so that Francis could lift him into his lap. "Alright and here we go." The brush glided through the white gold locks of hair, smoothing them down into manageable waves; the only thing still unruly was that double curl. "Voila! There, you look beautiful! Just like me!" Francis hugged the small boy close to himself for a moment before he kissed his forehead and let him go off to play.

Matthew ran outside of Jeanne's house and looked around for a hint of where his brother and aunt were when he heard laughter and growling. The small boy's tiny legs carried him all the way to a small clearing, in which were a young woman with short, golden hair, some of it hanging in tendrils at the sides of her face; Alfred, dressed in his outfit of a white shirt, red pants, and a blue cape that was covered in stars; and a group of creatures that looked like dragons of varied colors. The woman looked over and waved the youngest of the twins over.

"Matthieu! Over here!" Matthew laughed as he ran over to the two blondes, Alfred smiling,

"You're finally up! You always sleep like a rock, Matthew; you would miss the whole day if it wasn't for me!"

"Alfred, I was still sleepy from the trip!" The two boys continued to whine and bicker until Jeanne pressed her finger to her lips, whispering,

"Shh… You will scare the baby." Sapphire and amethyst eyes widened, small hands crossing over to cover each other's mouths, as Jeanne moved out of the way. There, next to two adult serpa of white and green, was a baby serpa of sea foam-shade. It was wobbling about on its two hind legs and trying to use its front wings/arms to balance itself and get the remaining egg-shell fragments off of it.

"Wow!" Alfred jumped over, startling the small family. The small creature shivered, trying to crawl back to its parents. Jeanne could only sigh as Matthew cried,

"Alfred's scaring the baby! Auntie Jeanne, make him stop!"

"_Arthur, you had better be happy that I am watching your children…"_ Those were Jeanne's thoughts right before the white serpa grabbed Alfred with its fearsome-looking fangs and hoisted the boy up into the air.

"Alfred, no!" Matthew was crying frantically, hiding behind his aunt's leg.

"Madam Serpa!" Jeanne called out, "Please put the hyperactive child down! His parents will kill me if anything happens to him!" After a few moments of the slender, female creature flapping her arms and spouting random noises, the serpa rolled its beady eyes and tossed the boy away.

Alfred landed on his bottom a few feet away, blinking at his experience.

"Alfred!" Matthew ran over to see if his brother was alright. "Please don't die! I'll do anything, just don't die!" Alfred silently blinked again before he yelled,

"That was the best ride of my life!", he then made his way back to the serpas in order to be flung through the air again. "Again! Again!" Matthew shook his head, about to try and go back to Jeanne when he found that his feet weren't meeting the ground anymore.

"Huh?" He looked behind himself and screamed as he saw an indigo in shade serpa carrying him about. "Auntie Jeanne!"

"Matthieu, just enjoy yourself…"

* * *

><p>After the initial fear ran out, Jeanne was observing as the small boys chased each other and the serpa around, how they slid down the largest serpa's back, and down to playing a game of hide and seek. By the time that the energetic atmosphere was waning, the sun was beginning to tickle the mountains in the distance. It was also then that Francis walked out from the house and called, "Come on in! It is time for dinner, oui?"<p>

"Food!" Alfred laughed as he waved 'bye' to the serpas. "Come on Matthew, food!"

"You're starting to sound like Kumajirou…" Matthew wanted to wait for his aunt, but ended up relenting to his hand being grabbed and dragged towards the house.

As the three walked back to the house, Jeanne slowly followed a ways behind. Oh the times that they all spent together, even when she would visit Arthur's farm and they would do nothing but work they would still be fun and relaxing. _"Oh,"_ She thought, _"If only there were some sort of device, like a button, with which one could save events so that they could be relived!"_ She smiled to herself, "Silly thoughts…", before she quickened her pace until she was on the threshold of her door and the smell of cooking hit her nose full on. "You always fill my house with the most delicious smells, Francis." Francis nodded,

"But of course, what else did you expect of me?", and then Jeanne was the first one inside; setting the table for the four of them. Francis was about to walk inside when something caught his ear. It was an extremely faint _something_, but it drew him towards the front porch. A faint, eerie tune could be heard from the skies and blue eyes widened as the shadow of a large, round object creeped along the ground as said object drifted across the sky. "…" The blonde felt his whole frame turn as stiff as stone at the sight he had just seen.

When the strange object with its eerily odd music vanished, Francis shook his head; walking inside to help with the food. Yet, due to that one strange… _thing_ Francis could barely concentrate on what he was doing. Even at the dinner table, everyone found it odd that Francis hadn't eaten anything. Finally, Alfred had to ask, with his mouth full of meat and bread, "Hey Mom. Mom~!"

"Hm?" Francis blinked but managed to shake his head clear enough to answer, "Yes Alfred?"

"Um…" Alfred was expecting to have to go on longer than that, so he didn't really think that he had to add anything else. Abruptly, he spouted out, "What's your favorite food?" Francis had to think about that for a moment. Then,

"Well, if I had to say anything I would say that any food that I make for my loved ones is my favorite. That's why I put so much hard work into everything that I cook." Matthew was struggling to cut the pan-fried cakes that Francis had made him when he smiled,

"So we're just like you Maman?" When an elegant eyebrow was raised, the boy yipped and added, "I mean, we all like your cooking… And you do too, so I just thought that…" Francis chuckled, taking a bite of his meal.

"Oui my darlings. You have things that make you like me, but also other things that make you like your father and your Auntie Jeanne. Always remember…" The oldest blonde looked out of the window at the vermillion sun, "No matter where we are, we are always together…"

* * *

><p>Following dinner was bath time for the twins and afterwards, the sleepy ones were put into bed. When they were covered in a thick, wool blanket, Alfred piped up,<p>

"You should sing to us! Come on, sing!" Francis only chuckled as he kneeled down besides the bed, asking,

"Matthieu, do you want a lullaby as well?" Matthew covered himself with his covers all the way up to his nose and nodded. "Alright then. I will sing one of your favorites." Francis cleared his throat before he slowly began:

_In a distant town… _

_As the dark grows deep… _

_Unfamiliar words resound, _

_Whispered and Meek. _

_Let me heal the pain… _

_Dry away despair… _

"Hmm-mm-hmm…

Hmm-mm-hmm-mm…" Francis hummed the next few lyrics of the song, seeing as how the twins had fallen asleep; Alfred hugging Matthew tight and vice versa. Jeanne had been putting out the lanterns in her home and when she came back to the guest room, she could only smile,

"How cute. They are so close, oui?" Francis nodded, brushing a bit of Matthew's hair back.

"Oui…"

"What is it?" Jeanne asked, noting the distraction in her friend's voice. The blonde man was merely silent for a few more moments before he asked,

"Have you… This sounds completely insane, but have you heard of a…" Francis tried to find the best words for what he was going to say next, but his mind couldn't, "A flying music-box?"

"Eh?"

"I know it sounds bizarre, but earlier when we were going to dinner, I could have sworn that I saw a strange shape flying across the sky. It played music and it cast a shadow over the land that nearly covered the whole hillside." After Francis had spoken, Jeanne was without words. Such a fantastic thing couldn't have possibly been made up, could it? But, then again…

"You were probably just tired from all that cooking," Jeanne offered, rising from her chair. "I will let you all get some well-deserved rest. Bon nuit."

"Bon nuit…" Francis sighed as the dim light from the room's own lantern flickered, his shadow dancing along the walls. "Maybe she is right." The blonde murmured as he lay down in his own bed.

Before he went to bed, however, he reached into his traveling bag that he kept close to the beds and pulled out a sketching diary. He opened it, a piece of charcoal falling into his hands before he began to sketch out what he thought he saw.

Large… Round… Shining… It hovered through the air almost like a dragonfly.

But, after a few more moments of sketching, the work of the day came back to him and he felt his eyes drifting shut. He reached out towards the lamp and blew it out, the last thought in his mind was that _strange_ melody…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**( 1 ) Serpas are basically what they were in Mother 3: dragon/dinosaur hybrids. Only in the original game they were called 'Dragos'. I... never liked that name, to tell you the truth. It reminds me too much of Draco Malfy from the Harry Potter franchise. Not that... I have anything against Harry Potter, I give all the honor in the world to J.K. Rowling for getting a whole generation into reading again. **

**Oh well, please review! Feedback is what makes writing worth it in the end. Ja ne! **

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	4. Arthur Part 3

"Come now you two," Francis started as he finished writing his letter, "We have to take the forest route in order to get back home, so finish up your breakfasts."

"Francis, calm down." Jeanne giggled as she packed some bread and fruit for the trio's trip. "You have been so jumpy since last night! And as for the forest, it is so serene that I bet even Matthieu could make it through on his own!" At that statement, Alfred burst into laughter while Matthew blushed and hid beneath the table.

"Jeanne, don't tease them." Was all Francis said before he rolled up the piece of parchment and walked outside.

Once outside, the blonde slowly walked to the side of Jeanne's house where a large birdhouse stood. A small family of pigeons was cooing and hopping around inside and Francis decided to take the mother out today. The small feathered being hopped onto Francis's shoulder and cooed as the blonde began to read what he had written out:

_Dearest Arthur,_

_How are you, Mon amour? I hope your bed hasn't been too cold these few days that I have been up here. Just like you thought, the boys have been running and playing around tirelessly since the moment we arrived. _

_Alfred is just full of energy, though Matthieu seems a bit coddled. Neither of them have gotten tired of playing at all, it seems. _

_Jeanne is helping us prepare for the trip back home, but I can tell she is a bit sad to see us go; especially the boys. It has been so long since we have all gotten together. Nonetheless, we shall be home by this evening. _

_I had almost forgotten how nice the mountain air is. Back home you are always drenched in the smell of goats and sheep, so it is no wonder… I really wish that you would have come along with us. _

_The next time Jeanne invites us to her home, I will ask one of our neighbors to tend to the farm so that we can all come up here: as a family. _

_Alfred, Matthieu, and I were thinking about you all the time up here. I know! When I get home, I will make you some of your favorite fried fish and potatoes for dinner. _

_Ton Beau Rose (Your Handsome Rose), Francis._

"That seems nice enough," The blonde smiled as he quickly rolled the message up and fastened it to the pigeon's leg. "Off you go, mon amie." He whispered as he tossed the pigeon into the air, the bird spreading its wings and soaring among the winds. Francis was about to walk back into the house when that _eerie_ melody floated through the air, followed once more by the shadow of a large, round shape moving along the ground.

"It has to be…" Francis whispered to himself as he kept his blue eyes focused on the ground, "My imagination…", as he made his way into the house with shaky footsteps.

* * *

><p>The forests of the Sanctu Islands were a beautiful sight to behold. Crickets filled the air with their music and the stars shined down with the moon taking the lead of it all. With the trees a deep verdant green that complimented the scene excellently, it was like a painting that hung on the walls of a museum…<p>

_BOOM!_

At a random point of the forest, a large explosion cleared a section of the trees away in a cloud of fire and smoke.

_BOOM! BOOM!_

The explosions were happening more often now, the points popping all over the forests. Some of the blasts were so powerful that when they shook the ground, the tremors went all the way to the village of Mirror Falls.

Heavy footsteps could be heard throughout the forest among the sounds of the panicking animals. Who did the footsteps belong to?

Grass crackled as a young woman walked forward. She was dressed in a brown jump-suit type uniform and had a helmet that was decorated with… dog-ears. Her eyes were covered in goggles as she tossed forward a round device. It shined red before it began blinking. The woman tried to run away but bumped into her partner, a young man dressed in the same outfit, causing her to fall to the ground. The young man chuckled nervously before helping the woman up; the both of them running away before the device exploded, covering the area in flame and debris.

* * *

><p>On the outskirts of the village, in a house that was closed off by a high picket fence, a young man with neck length blonde hair was shaken out of his sleep by a gentle hand. "Mrm… What?" Eyes that were the same shade as green garnet opened up to see wide eyes of sea foam looking down at him. "Lili, what is it?"<p>

Lili, a young girl with her long, blonde hair braided into to pig-tails had her hands bunched up into her pink nightgown, trembling, "Big brother, I think the world is ending." Big brother – err – Vash sighed,

"Lili, what nightmare could be so important to make you wake up this late?" Lili was about to speak up when their house shook again, bright light shining for a second before it dimmed.

"See what I mean?" Lili whimpered, "I'm scared big brother."

"Hey, don't worry." Vash slowly got out of bed and grabbed his cloak off his bedpost. He immediately walked downstairs and grabbed a bow and a quiver full of arrows that were hung up on the wall. "Don't leave the house until I come back, alright Lili?" The girl nodded,

"Yes.", and with that Vash was out the door.

* * *

><p>The residents of mirror falls were rushing about, trying to figure out what to do about the oncoming fires; a streak of red zooming through the ruckus. His long red hair whipped behind him along with his blue and white cloak. Green eyes were frantic as he tried to find the house he was looking for. He finally made it to the part of town where Arthur and France lived.<p>

"Arthur! Arthur, wake up!" The redhead howled out as he banged on the door of the farmhouse, "This isn't the time to sleep off a night of good drinkin', Artie! WAKE UP!" When Paul still didn't get an answer, he began adding kicks to his heavy assault on the door, "The Sol Forest is on fire! Get out here and help the rest of us put it out!"

Inside, Arthur was trying to ignore his older brother. Being the youngest of three usually meant that he was prone to being bothered by his brothers Paul and Richard's antics. But when Paul had said 'fire' and he hadn't given up, Arthur immediately jumped out of bed.

'_A fire…'_ He thought, _'With this village being surrounded by forest, if the flames don't kill us, the smoke will!'_ He briskly ran his fingers through his hair as he rushed to the closet he and Francis shared. In a quick, well-practiced series of actions, the blonde had dressed himself in his farming clothes but had taken good care to tie his red, white, and blue designed cloak on his shoulders.

Field green eyes narrowed as Arthur rushed downstairs. He was just about to go out the door when he saw his reflection in the hallway mirror. He readjusted his belt and cape before he muttered, "You're looking pretty handsome, old chap. But this is no time for that." And when he made it to the door, the poor thing was almost off its hinges from his brother's abuse.

"You have to help us do something, Artie! The forest is going to burn to the ground!" The redhead pulled at the doorknob and growled, "Who would lock their door in a peaceful village like this? Damn it, Arthur!" Paul gave one more tug and something… _strange_ happened. The doorknob gave a squeak before it jumped off the door, bounced off the adjoining doghouse, and then disappeared. "What in the..?" Arthur finally walked out of the house and Paul sputtered,

"Doorknob! I mean – Arthur! This is no time to be dozing off! The Sol Forest is on fire you have to help!"

"Hm…" Arthur hummed as he took in the situation, "I could probably cast one of my spells to make a rainfall that would put out the fire and—"

"Oh no you don't!" Paul groaned as he pulled his brother, via his arm, out of the area, fuming, "You know that those supposed 'spells' of yours don't work! Despite how much you got my wife to believe in them!" Arthur rolled his eyes as he was dragged but completely ceased his steps as they passed the doghouse. "What is it? We have to go!" Arthur ignored his brother's whines in favor of walking to the small house where Kumajirou the bear was sitting with something in his mouth.

"What's this?" The blonde took the item, revealing it to be an old sword.

"Oi," Paul began, "You could probably use that for defense or something! Not that you should need it." Arthur nodded before sheathing the sword and fastening to his waist.

"Let's go." Arthur began, rushing off towards the main part of the village.

"Finally!" Paul sighed as he followed his little brother. The two brothers ran through the village, seeing everyone trying to stop the flames that had reached the taller buildings. They were passing the center of town when they heard a chorus of people at work.

"Put your backs into it, now!" The woman in front with the chocolate skin and the braided ebony hair yelled to the other villagers as they formed a chain to bring buckets of water to put out the flames of the larger buildings.

"My wife's a beauty, isn't she?" You could literally see that hearts forming around Paul as he said the words. Arthur only sighed as he dragged his brother onward to the village's exit. Just before they left, however, they passed what appeared to be a wooden bell-tower. On top was a tall, stern looking blonde whose cold blue eyes looked out into the fiery distance. At the tower's base, on the other hand, was a slim blonde with mauve eyes who appeared to fill in the definition of friendly. He turned around when he heard the two rushing by, waving,

"Arthur!"

"Oh, Tino." Arthur stopped his pace, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, thank goodness! Berwald here has been warning every one of the fire by keeping his post here at the bell-tower."

"Doesn't he always keep post at the bell-tower?" Paul chuckled slightly, but he had an idea, "But hey… Oi! Berwald, can you see the fire from way up there?"

"…", Berwald was silent as he struck the large brass bell again and again. Paul huffed,

"As talkative as ever, I see…"

"Would you come on?" Arthur gritted out as he grabbed his brother's arm and they were off again.

* * *

><p>The two were finally out of Mirror Falls, the entrance to the forest in the distance. But before that, there was an ancient brick-hewn building a few feet away. "Do you think that Dad's still in there?" Arthur only sighed. Their father was in charge of the church that everyone in Mirror Falls would visit at least once a week.<p>

Only, as you would see if you walked in, it wasn't as much a church as it was a shrine. On the whole back wall of the church, there was a giant mural of a black and white dragon intertwined in the sky. A man who looked like an older version of Arthur was on his knees in front of the stone altar in the room.

"May the forest and all the people and animals all have happiness…" He was praying before Arthur called out,

"Dad!"

"Hm? Oh, hello you two." Michael stood and dusted his robes before continuing, "Where are you two going? To put out this fire, I hope."

"Pretty much." Paul replied. Michael nodded, then he turned to the mural,

"Well, you should offer a prayer here before you go. It's only proper…" Paul groaned but Arthur agreed as he knelt down at the altar and bowed his head; offering a silent prayer for everyone affected by the fire. He was about to add another note for his family when the doors to the church burst open, a man wearing farmer's attire with a cloak of green, white, and orange and short auburn hair running in, yelling,

"What are you two sitting here for? We have an emergency!" Arthur sighed at the sight of his oldest brother as he got up, his prayers interrupted, and he jerked a thumb in Paul's direction,

"I've already heard from this guy: the forest is on fire."

"And," Richard, the oldest, began, "Vash and Lili are still trapped inside! We have to get them out before the fire does them in!"

"Damn," Arthur huffed, "This night is just getting better and better, isn't it?"

"Get a move on, all of you," Michael commanded his three sons, "Fire waits for no man, so I'd suggest that you lot hurry." The trio nodded,

"Right."

Four people running towards somewhere would be great… If it weren't for Michael's age slowing them down. "Hold on!" The old blonde panted, kneeling to the ground, "These old bones and all this smoke isn't making the best combination. Richard, Paul, and Arthur sighed; the youngest about to speak when a loud screech broke the calm. In an instant, Richard recoiled in pain as a blur of black flew by and bit his arm,

"Ah! What is that?" In front of them, flapping its wings looking at them all with frenzied eyes, was a large black bat.

"A bat. Filthy little bugger…" Arthur replied as he unsheathed his sword. The bat screeched as it rushed forwards, Arthur swinging his sword with a, "Be gone with you!" The creature received a nasty cut from the blade before it flew away, bested by the blonde. Paul gulped,

"What was that all about?"

"All the chaos from the fire must be making the animals restless." Michael explained as he stood back to his feet. "We should hurry and find Vash and Lili. Come on, the forest's entrance is just up ahead."

* * *

><p>Rows and rows of tall, powerful trees marked the entry-way to Sol Forest. The four men looked up, a menacing glow showing the intensity of the situation. "Right then," Richard asked, "Who's going and who's staying?" Arthur walked forward and, just before the red-head could step back, he grabbed Paul's arm; dragging him towards the forest.<p>

"Come now, Artie! You don't need me, I can just stay here and help Rich and Paul and – Ow! Easy with the grabbing!"

"Would you come on?" Arthur gritted out, "This isn't the time for your stupid jokes Paul!"

"Who's joking?" Paul frowned as they walked through the forest, the heat and levels of smoke slowly rising, "We shouldn't be here! Or at least we should have gotten more help! Really now," Paul was cut off by a series of coughs from his throat, "This smoke is murder, Artie! My lungs are burning up!"

"Same here…" Arthur coughed back, squinting his eyes to see exactly where they were. He was practically walking blind until one of his feet felt wet all of a sudden. "Wait, what's that?" He tried to wave some of the smoke away before he could barely see what looked like a pond. But judging from the temperature of the water, the blonde knew that he had wadded into one of the hot springs that dotted the Sanctu Islands. "Let's see here…" Digging into his pockets, Arthur found a handkerchief that he ripped in two before soaking the two pieces. He handed one to his older brother, "Tie it around your face so that it'll filter the smoke."

"Are you sure about..?" One look at Arthur's annoyed face cut him off, "I'll just stop talking now…"

The two brothers wandered through the smoke and flames, trying desperately to find any type of landmark to find their way.

"If I remember right, Vash's house is this…" The young blonde muttered as he thought he recognized a group of stones, "Way?" Arthur stopped in his tracks as he took in the sight in front of him. A man dressed in a brown jump-suit, black goggles, and a helmet decorated with dog ears. The strange man set down a metal box and opened it, sending small, strange creatures buzzing and flying into the air. When the deed was done, the man rushed off. They both blinked before Paul spoke,

"That was…"

"Strange, yes." This night was definitely that, Arthur thought. But it was about to get stranger when he noted one of the strange creatures floating by a tree. It… seemed to breathe flames out of a small spout on its face that soon engulfed the whole plant.

"Is that a… bug?" Paul asked.

"I've never seen a bug like this before." Arthur responded, trying to see if they could get through without any trouble when he saw a body on the ash-covered ground. One look at the red and white cloak and his hair was all Arthur needed before he called out, "Vash!" With a weak groan, the younger blond tried to look towards the call.

"Arthur? And Paul?" Vash whispered out but coughed out to the point that blood was speckling his lips. When the two made it over, he began fuming, "Damn it! I tried to kill those things, but more just kept on coming." Paul shook his head,

"But what _are_ they?"

"Don't know. But they keep going around the forest lighting fires and," Vash shot straight up, "Lili! I have to go save Lili – Agh!" He keeled back over when his wounds and burns opened up, blood and clear fluid leaking out.

"What? Lili's still back there?" Paul kneeled down and gave Vash room to lean on him, "Artie, are you up for getting Lili?"

"Yeah." The oldest blonde nodded, "Don't worry Vash, Lili's going to be fine, I'll… make… sure of it?" Arthur's voice was being drowned out by a loud buzzing. Suddenly, three of the strange insects flew around and surrounded him before one of them flew forward to attack.

Arthur was able to jump away from the first one, just to have another scorch his back in flames. "Artie!"

"Fucking hell!" Arthur barked out as he fell to the ground. The three insects seemed to convey a message to each other before they all tried to swarm the body on the ground.

"Get up damn it!" Vash yelled. That seemed to snap Arthur out of his pain-induced slump before he quickly rolled over. The three insects crashed into each other, falling to the ground in a twitching, whirring heap. Arthur slowly stood to his feet, glaring at the insects on the ground. He silently lifted his foot and brought it down, crunching noises filling the space as he ground his foot into the ground.

"You okay there Artie?" In response to Paul's question, Arthur gently ran his fingers along his back; hissing a bit before he huffed,

"Nothing too bad. I'll get an earful from Francis though." With another deep breath, he announced, "Alright, here I go.", before rushing towards the center of the forest.


	5. Arthur Part 4

His footsteps crunched and cracked against the burnt and burning wood and grass. Arthur coughed a bit as his eyes strained to see where he was going. He knew he was in the general area of Vash's house. But he just couldn't see for sure. He called out, "Lili! Lili, it's me Arthur! From the village? I'm here to rescue you for your brother!" Then, it took a bit of effort to hear, but he could hear a call. Arthur turned and saw the house in the distance.

"Help!" The poor girl was screaming from the window of the top floor of the house. Just then, one of the support beams of the house collapsed onto her, ceasing her screams.

"Lili!" Arthur yells, rushing forward into the house. Just as he did, a strange shape flew by the window and was gone in the blink of an eye. Arthur had literally gone out of the frying pan and into the fire when he went inside the house that was swarmed in flames. "Lili?"

There was a squeak.

Arthur ignored it, trying to get to the staircase. Another squeak sounded as he found himself blocked by… "What the hell?" It was a creature that looked like a giant rat, floating in the air via a pair of dragonfly-esque wings. It squeaked, its rotting teeth dripping a thick, mucus-like saliva before it flew forward, gnashing its teeth. Arthur was filled with adrenaline by this point in time; in an instant, he drew his sword and with one fell swoop and a loud squeak, the strange beast was no more

After the creature fell to the floor, Arthur rushed upstairs and found Lili unconscious on the carpeting; the flames beginning to lick at her nightgown and hair. "Poor girl," Arthur murmured as he picked her up, bridal style. When he began to walk out of the house, the building began shaking. "Shit!" He hissed as he ran out as fast as his legs could carry.

His feet were just barely past the threshold of the door when the house collapsed, sending ashes and smoke into the air. "Shit," Arthur growled, "I couldn't save the house." While he was beating himself up, Lili's eyebrow twitched.

"Hm..?" Her wide eyes opened and she smiled, "Oh, Mr. Arthur! Oh my, I'm pitch-black and covered in soot!" She looked at her ash-covered hands before she looked up and noted, "Oh, you're pitch-black too." Arthur sighed; they _had_ just come out of a burning building. "Thank you, Mr. Pitch-black Arthur."

"Let's just get you back to your brother."

"Oh yes! My brother is probably worried sick about me by now! We should let him know that I'm okay." Arthur knelt down and spoke up,

"Let me carry you, Vash would kill me if you were walking after an experience like this." Lili nodded as she climbed on. After he got his balance, Arthur began a quick sprint in order to get out from the burning wasteland.

* * *

><p>Arthur was slowly walking out of the Sol Forest Entrance when he saw one of the villagers waiting for him. She looked at the two and exclaimed, "Oh my, you two are pitch-black and covered in soot. But at least you're alright." Arthur gave an agitated sigh before he asked,<p>

"Have you seen my brothers?" The villager nodded,

"Paul and the others are at the Prayer Sanctuary if you're looking for him." Arthur quickly nodded a thank-you before he went on his way.

* * *

><p>It was another hour before he managed to set an eye on the Prayer Sanctuary. There was a large group standing around the front of the stone-hewn church and Arthur sighed in relief when he saw his brothers and his father amongst them all. "Oi!" He called out. Paul looked over and he laughed as he noticed,<p>

"Artie! You're pitch-black and covered in soot!" This was rewarded with a punch to the stomach.

"Tell me something that I don't know, why don't you?" When Paul crouched down on the ground from pain, Lili called over,

"Are you okay?" In the center of the group of people, Vash had been bandaged up and was resting from his ordeal. But when his sister spoke, he slowly opened his eyes, asking,

"That voice, is that you Lili?"

"Big brother!", Lili exclaimed as she jumped down and rushed over to her older sibling. "Big brother, I was so worried!" Vash gave a relieved smile as he was able to touch Lili's hand; proof that this wasn't an illusion.

"You're alright? I – What in the world happened to you? Your hair!" He was referring to how the flames had gotten ahold of Lili's hair, the blonde locks considerably shorter. "And… You're pitch-black and covered in soot!" Arthur smacked his forehead, groaning,

"Oh, come on!" Lili ignored it as her worried eyes ran over her brother's appearance,

"What about you? You're covered in burns and bruises! And your leg!"

"It's nothing. I just have to twist it like so and…" _Crack!_ As soon as Vash had even tried moving a bit, he immediately broke something. "Ow, ow, ow, ow! God damn it!" There were chuckles all around, especially from a young man with deep brown hair and glasses who was dressed in scholarly blue. He shook his head,

"Vash, control yourself."

"Oh shut up, Roderich!" Vash panted from his yells before he softly spoke to Arthur, "But really, I thank you for what you've done Arthur." Of course, Roderich had to speak up again,

"Wow, that's the first time I've heard you ever thank someone, Vash."

"Shut up!"

"But he's right," A brunette woman by the name of Elizaveta, Roderich's wife laughed, "The only thing that could make this day any stranger is if it started raining out of the blue!"

Just then, one… then three… then a shower of freezing cold droplets rained down to the ground; extinguishing the flames from the earth.

* * *

><p>The injured and exhausted had been taken to Paul and his wife, Chineme's inn. The woman who was leading the fight against the flames earlier was now tending to everyone who had been hurt in the fire. Arthur watched on as his brother's wife wrapped a bandage around his arms, the same woman whom he had dated back when he was younger. She looked up with a risen eyebrow, "What are you looking at, oh?"<p>

"Just imagining what things would be like if things between us worked out and – OW!" **( 1 )** Arthur quickly realized that bringing up elements of the past could have negative side-effects as Chineme tightened the bandage to the point of removing circulation. After she replaced them normally, she smiled,

"There you are." Arthur muttered something about 'crazy women' when he looked around, briefly announcing,

"Alright, I need to sleep so I'm heading out!" He received a few sparse words of good-bye before he put on his cloak and walked out the door.

The rain continued to pelt down as Arthur walked through Mirror Falls. As his cloak soaked up more and more of the water, making it harder to walk, he slowly wondered if he should have stayed at the inn until it let up. But he could see his farm close by, so he just continued trudging through the cold weather before he made it to one of their fruit trees. "Finally, I—"

"Arthur!" The blonde turned and saw a young man who had short brown hair, tanned skin, and deep emerald eyes. He was dressed in yellows and reds and he had a smile even as he walked through the rain. Arthur blinked as he recognized him,

"Antonio? You barely ever leave the castle, let alone come to talk to me."

"It's a good thing I caught up to you!" Antonio ignored the statement and kept on until he was right in front of the blonde. "Madre de Dios, all this rain."

"I don't know, I kind of feel used to it somehow.", Arthur shrugged. It was silent as they both stood underneath the small shelter, watching the skies drench the earth. Antonio broke the calm, however,

"Arthur… This visit isn't social." When he had the blonde's attention, he began, "I have to ask… Have you seen Francis and the boys?"

"…" Arthur gave a slow shake of his head.

"Because I was picking berries for the Princes earlier and I saw a glimpse of Francis." Arthur gave a nod, a silent 'go on'. "Then while I was taking a break by the river, I heard roars in the distance. It sounded like it could have been a Serpa… But it sounded so mad. And in so much pain…"

"Go on Antonio."

"After that… I heard what could only be described as screaming." The mere memory seemed to cause a shiver to run through the brunette's frame. He asked, his tone completely serious, "Arthur my friend… Francis and the boys made it home alright, si?" He wasn't getting a response, so he repeated, "Si?"

Arthur didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. He merely backed up a few steps… And ran.

'_Francis! Where are you?'_ The only thing on his thoughts as he ran towards his home.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**( 1 ) Yeah, I have to sneak in a colonization joke for everything that I write that includes England. I love the bittersweet relationship that the nations of England and Nigeria (who Chineme is supposed to represent) have had in real life: England came to colonize, NIgeria welcomed it, England tried to further their power and influence, Nigeria kicked them out, Nigeria still uses a lot of cultures and food items from England... It's awesome. **

**Anyway, enough of my rambling, back to seriousness. Zut alors, what has happened to Francis? You shall find out if you keep reading. Also... Review please! It only takes a minute and what is a minute out of your 24 hour day, huh? Please? **

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	6. Arthur Part 5

Arthur's chest burned as he finally arrived at his farmhouse, panting and heaving. Looking up, he briefly noticed that his house was just as dark as he had left it; there was nothing but silence. "No one's here?" He whispered before he looked down and saw a pigeon with a roll of paper tied to her leg. "Hello there, is that for me?" The blonde quickly removed and looked over the parcel, "A letter from Francis?" He leaned against the door, the pigeon hopping onto his foot for warmth, as he read,

_Dearest Arthur,_

_How are you, Mon amour? I hope your bed hasn't been too cold these few days that I have been up here. Just like you thought, the boys have been running and playing around tirelessly since the moment we arrived. _

_Alfred is just full of energy, though Matthieu seems a bit coddled. Neither of them have gotten tired of playing at all, it seems. _

_Jeanne is helping us prepare for the trip back home, but I can tell she is a bit sad to see us go; especially the boys. It has been so long since we have all gotten together. Nonetheless, we shall be home by this evening. _

_I had almost forgotten how nice the mountain air is. Back home you are always drenched in the smell of goats and sheep, so it is no wonder… I really wish that you would have come along with us. _

_The next time Jeanne invites us to her home, I will ask one of our neighbors to tend to the farm so that we can all come up here: as a family. _

_Alfred, Matthieu, and I were thinking about you all the time up here. I know! When I get home, I will make you some of your favorite fried fish and potatoes for dinner. _

_Ton Beau Rose (Your Handsome Rose), Francis._

Antonio quickly walked over to the farmhouse, smiling,

"Hola Arthur, I…" He quieted as he saw how dim Arthur's expression seemed; his eyes downcast as he stood there.

"…" Arthur was quiet, not even noting that anyone was in the area with him before, who else, Paul and Chineme walked over. But Paul took one look at the quiet house and his brother's demeanor before he spoke,

"Cor blimey, they're still not back yet?" When Arthur gave a slow shake of his head, the dark-skinned woman looked up at the sky, murmuring,

"I hope the boys haven't caught a cold… On account of all this rain, oh." The quartet of people just stood there until Antonio offered,

"I'll go find them! Just leave it to me, si?", and before anyone could say otherwise, the brunette had rushed off. Paul scratched the back of his head, stating,

"They're probably taking shelter from the rain somewhere." He turned to his wife, "We should all go look for them."

"I'll rally up the other villagers," Chineme nodded. Just before she and Paul left, however, she quietly spoke, "Be safe." Arthur's body responded with a short wave. But he was still in shock that, after all that had happened today, his family still was somewhere out there with all this chaos.

"Get it together, old chap," He shook himself clear of his gloom and adjusted the ties on his cloak before he began to walk out of his compound. But before he left, there was a rumbling in the dog-house. He walked over to the small wooden house before it shuffled again. A tell-tale wall of fluff appeared in the doorway before Kumaijirou's fluffy head popped out along with the rest of him. He gave a tired yawn,

"Mm…" Arthur knelt down, speaking quietly,

"What is it boy? You want to come with me?" Kumajirou yawned again,

"Mrm… (If I have to, I guess I can be helpful…)"

"Good bear." Arthur gave the bear a pat on the head before he reached into the dog-house and pulled out a small travel-pack which, with some difficulty, Arthur managed to fit onto the bear's back. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Francis!"<p>

"Alfred!"

"Matthew!"

These were the chants that filled Mirror Falls as everyone joined in the search for the three missing blondes. Arthur and Kumajirou were the most occupied; they looked _everywhere _that they could for their loved ones. After thirty minutes of sheer running around, Arthur had to take a break behind the nearest house. He took in a few needed breaths before he looked down and saw Kumajirou slobbering all over something.

"What are you gnawing at?" With some struggle, Arthur managed to pull out what looked like a small red ball decorated with a lightning-bolt shaped sign. "A Thunder Ball **( 1 )**? No. Bad bear, you don't eat these." Kumajirou gave Arthur a quizzical expression before the blonde sighed and placed the ball inside the small pack on the bear's back. Arthur looked around, thinking that there was only one man in Mirror Falls who made these types of items. "Sadiq must have been here…" He whispered before he gave a short whistle and he and Kumajirou were off again.

* * *

><p>Arthur walked along past the main entrance to Mirror Falls and was about to keep on walking when he was stopped by a familiar, happy call. It was Tino, still standing at the base of the bell-tower; Berwald still ringing away. When Arthur made it over,<p>

"Arthur, I…" Tino hummed for a moment as his mind processed what to say. "Okay. I've heard about Francis and the small ones. Me and Berwald will stay in town in case they come back and need tending to. Right Berwald?" The petite young man looked up into the bell-tower to see the stern-looking male looking off into the distance.

"…" Was his answer as cold blue eyes stared forward.

"Thanks you two." After that, Arthur kept up his search. He knew he had looked at all of Mirror Falls that he could cover, so he got Kumajirou's dazed attention before they moved towards the scorched remains of the forest. "Damn it all, Francis, hasn't this joke gone on long e—Oh! Father!" In front of the entrance to Sol Forest, Arthur saw his father along with an older man who had short brown hair, a stubbly beard, and a deep tan.

"There you are Arthur," Michael spoke. He was accompanied by Sadiq, the village merchant/trader. "I've gotten everyone to split up and search the forest for your wife and children."

"Thank you father." Michael nodded at his son's thanks before he looked towards the skies,

"To be blessed with such kind friends… True happiness, in a sense." Sadiq cleared his throat before speaking up,

"I wanted to help in the search, but due to my bad knee everyone told me to stay home."

"It's fine, we don't want you hurting yourself." As soon as Arthur said that, however, Sadiq fumed,

"How many times do I have to tell you people, I'm not old!" After that tirade ended, he said, "That Alfred is such a trouble-maker! He's probably hiding somewhere and making us all worry ourselves to death! And then there's Matthew… Little crybaby."

"Hey now, don't badmouth my grandsons.", Michael gave Sadiq a light punch in the shoulder; all three men sharing a slight laugh before one of the villagers ran from the inside of the forest, talking about something they needed to see.

* * *

><p>Everyone looked at the scene in complete shock. Due to the fire that had just broken out, destruction of the forest was imminent. But this… <em>This<em> was something completely different. A whole pathway of the forest had been blocked off by trees that had been ripped apart and all sorts of haphazard rubble. Michael whispered, shaking his head,

"My God… All these trees were snapped right in two…" Paul gulped,

"And look at the claw marks…" They all looked at the scene, not knowing what to make of it before a call of,

"For God's sake, you guys still haven't found Francis and the kids?" Arthur turned and saw Vash walking up, accompanied by Roderich, Elizaveta, and Lili. Richard raised a fine eyebrow, asking,

"Vash? Are you sure you should be up and about?" While they were talking, Paul's wife had gotten a few of the villagers together and they had started to try to see if they could move the debris out of the way. Vash quickly dragged Roderich to join them.

"I'm fine." The young blonde groaned out as they all pushed, before he yelled to Arthur's brothers, "Get over here and help already! Arthur, you should… Try and find… Another way around while we… Move this."

"Right, Father I…" Arthur was cut off when he saw his father still looking at the scene in horror. The older blonde whispered something along the lines of,

"Why would a Serpa do this?" That caught Arthur's ears,

"How do you know it was a Serpa?"

"…Just a guess." Michael shook his head, "Something is threatening to throw everything, the forest, the animals, you, me, all off balance." Kumajirou, who had been dozing on the ground, couldn't be bothered by all the talking that the humans were doing. Especially not when his nose caught something. He ran off, Arthur calling after before he gave chase.

The bear didn't stop running, however, until he got to the base of a steep cliff. He began clawing at it, occasionally whining as he couldn't get up. "What is it?" Arthur asked as he and Michael finally made it over, "We have to go find Francis and the kids, you silly bear!" Kumajirou only mumbled,

"Mrm… (Roses… Hay… Maple…)" The mumble was lost on Arthur, but Michael looked up and saw something that caught his attention. He grabbed his son's shoulder,

"Look up there!" He pointed up, "It's a piece of something blue. Cloth perhaps?" Arthur looked up and nearly faltered on his feet as he saw something blue fluttering in the wind; stuck to the branch of a struggling tree.

"What's everyone looking at?" He always seemed to interrupt, that eccentric merchant Sadiq; he walked over to the trio and looked up before he yelped, "Arthur, ya ain't trying to climb this cliff, are you?"

"I have to find my family, damn it!" The blonde gritted out, "I'm tired of just walking around and not doing anything!" The air was still after that outburst. Sadiq nervously shook some of the rainwater out of his hair before he spoke again,

"Well, maybe that no good lounger of mine can help out." He rolled his eyes, "That is… If he would wake his lazy self up!" At that moment, Kumajirou had waddled away from the wall, giving Sadiq an idea. "Kumajirou, can you bring Heracles back here? You know, my…" The merchant had to think for a second, "Son, no, lover, no, employee, no, I… Agh, just get him, would ya?" Kumajirou gave a sleepy look towards Arthur,

"Mrm..? (Do I have to?)", but of course, Arthur didn't understand it and the small bear began running back to Mirror Falls.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**( 1 ) And here we see one of the standard weapons of the game Mother 3: Thunder Balls (there are different kinds of these items, but thunder is the basic)... Think of them as weaponized fireworks. **

**Oh, and something that I'm slapping myself for not mentioning earlier. Arthur isn't psychic or anything, its just a common joke in the Mother games (that I'm bringing over to this fic) to let the player (reader) know what the animals around are saying. **

**Please tell me what you guys are thinking about the fic so far! **

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	7. Arthur Part 6

"Yeah, go fetch boy!" Sadiq whooped as Kumajirou ran. The bear grumbled,

"Mrm… (Whatever. I'm not a dog.)", before he picked up the pace. The rain was getting harder and he didn't want to be here anymore than he had to be. He followed Sadiq's scent trail when he got back to town, immediately finding the man's house and having to do nothing more than nudge the door before he was allowed inside.

Kumajirou walked inside, shaking the rain-drops from his fur before he looked around. He looked over on the couch before he found who he was looking for. The boy who had been left behind when his mother died in a tragic storm, Heracles (now around preteen age) lay on the couch; sleeping while a bunch of cats pawed over him.

"Mm! (Hey!)" Kumajirou walked over, "Mrm! (Wake up, you're wanted!)" But Heracles slept on, causing Kumajirou to growl, "Grr… (Seriously? You've got to be kidding me.)"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at the cliff, Arthur, Sadiq, and Michael were still waiting for Kumajirou to come back with Heracles. "I hope he didn't get lost," Arthur murmured. As if summoned by the blonde's call, Kumajirou could soon be seen tugging a sleeping brunette all the way to the cliff. When he finally made it to where everyone else was standing, the bear left the boy and went to Arthur's side to take a nap.<p>

"Heracles, there ya are!", Sadiq called out, successfully waking the teen who groaned,

"What do you want? You're going to force me to work tomorrow, so I need as much sleep as I can get and –" Just then, the brunette fell asleep standing on his feet **( 1 )**.

"Damn it!" Sadiq fumed as he gave a swift smack to the young man's head. "Wake up, would ya?"

"Where am I? It's raining?"

"Yeah, great, whatever…" Sadiq sighed, "I need ya to put those, ahem, _special skills_ I taught ya to good use."

"I don't think that those should be used outside of the bedroom, Sadiq…"

"Not those, you moron!" Sadiq smacked Heracles in the back of the head again, "Your thief skills!"

"Oh…"

"Yeah, now use your cat-claw technique and help us get up that wall!" Heracles blinked before offering,

"I know you've been training me since I was small but… This will be my first time using that technique in real life…"

"Just do it!" Sadiq yelled, pushing Heracles to the Cliffside.

"This wall looks scalable." He whispered, running his fingers along the surface, "I hope that this works." Heracles then dug his hands into his pockets for a minute before he whipped them out, showing that his hands were covered in brown, claw-tipped gloves; one of them holding a group of large staples, the other holding a hammer. "Here we go!" The brunette jumped up, hammering a staple into the wall. When that one was steady, he stepped onto it and used the lift to continue his work.

* * *

><p>"That should do it." Heracles finally finished his ascent and saw that the way up could support more than his own weight. "Arthur, I—" Just then, Heracles fell asleep again at the top of the cliff. Sadiq only groaned,<p>

"Damn that boy…" Arthur only briefly thanked Sadiq for his help before he hefted Kumajirou up in one arm and began to climb the make-shift ladder all the way until he was at the cliff's edge.

"Hey. Heracles…" Arthur walked up to the brunette and nudged him with his foot, Heracles soon waking up,

"Oh, Arthur. You made it up so soon?" He looked up and observed the lack of water falling from the sky, "Looks like the rain stopped." He noticed Arthur about to walk off, deciding to call out, "You know, despite my sleeping illness, I think I should help you out some more. Seeing as how I didn't know about everything that was happening until just a few moments ago."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Arthur nodded, already climbing the tree that Michael had pointed out. A shaky hand reached forward, tugging the torn fabric from the branches. As soon as he touched it though, he gulped as his eyes went wide, "This fabric… It's the same color and material of the clothes that I sewed for Francis."

The blonde jumped down from the tree, grassy eyes still focused on the piece of cloth. Suddenly, with a screech, a mole jumped up from seemingly nowhere and, after biting away the cloth, began to rush off. "No!" Arthur barked out, immediately giving chase to the filthy creature.

It was about to burrow into a soft patch of ground, but it was suddenly stopped by a large staple pressing it into the ground. "Give me that!" Arthur huffed as he took the fabric away from the subdued creature. He turned around, offering a thank you to Heracles; the preteen holding his hammer and staples again. But he had to ask,

"Why are the animals around here acting so crazy?"

"I don't know, I think they're still unnerved by the fire!" Arthur shrugged, beginning to find a way up to the higher reaches of the mountain, "Come on, we need to see if Francis and the kids are up ahead."

* * *

><p>The trio moved up and around the mountain, passing precarious ledges, slick and goopy mud, and more rabid, frightened animals. It was all so strange, especially to Arthur who, in his entire life, had never seen animals attack people. Hell, he had never seen the forest catch fire like it had; everyone was taught from their birth to keep fires as far from the woods as possible.<p>

This night was so odd that it was scary. And now Francis and the boys had yet to come home? Arthur didn't show it, of course, but he was really starting to fear the worst about his family… He was in such deep thought, praying that they would be safe, that he nearly jumped a foot in the air when Heracles tapped his shoulder. "Oh," He panted, "What is it?" The brunette had a perplexed look on his face as he pointed in front of them, up ahead on the path that they were taking,

"Arthur, am I dreaming or do I see something strange over there?" Arthur looked over and couldn't speak, his eyes were wide as he took in the sight.

In front of the trio were two men in the same uniform of brown jump-suit, dog-ear helmet, and black goggles that Arthur had seen before. Only these two were so much more threatening. One of them was holding a knife and a scalpel in his hands, while the other had a strange metal device that seemed to produce fire along with a hammer in his other hand. However, Arthur's eyes widened at one detail in particular:

The dripping crimson that cascaded from the two beings' arms and instruments.

Then Arthur looked behind them and gasped at the sight of what once appeared to have been a caribou. But now, half of its face, its spine, hind legs, and eyes had been forcibly replaced by steel and metal. Kumajirou growled, his fur bristling,

"Grr..! (They're hurting him!)"

"You two!" Arthur called over, causing the two strangers to jump in shock, "What are you doing to that caribou? Answer me?" The couple looked at each other for a moment before one of them chuckled,

"Heh heh…", taking a strange device out of his pocket. He pressed something on it that caused the caribou's mangled corpse to shudder. Then, on shaky artificial limbs, it stood; nostrils flaring and steam billowing out with each exhale. "Go get 'em, Reconstructed Caribou!", the strange dog-ear hatted teen called out. The caribou's mechanical eye gleamed red before it started to charge forth; lowering its head to try and gore the trio with its horns.

"Move!" Arthur yelled out, shoving Heracles and Kumajirou out of the way as the beast rushed them.

When he was by himself, Kumajirou rolled over in order to open the small pack on his back, two thunder balls falling out. He quickly picked one up in his mouth before flinging it towards the Reconstructed Caribou. Shrieking and metallic sounding groans filled the air as the ball exploded in a flash of lightning and sparks.

The Caribou bellowed and dug its steel hooves into the ground before charging forward in a berserk fury; its eyes glaring and foam escaping his mouth. Kumajirou was its first target, the impact sending him flying across the clearing. Then came Heracles, receiving a vicious kick to the stomach; a firm crack of bone sounding before he fell to the ground. Finally, the beast charged towards Arthur. "Stand your ground Artie…" The blonde whispered to himself, bracing his feet like he would if he was wrestling with his brothers. The Reconstructed Caribou collided into him at full speed. "Damn!" Arthur choked out as he felt his feet shifting in the sparse dirt as the beast shoved him backward.

"Go, go! Go!" One of the strangers cheered, his counterpart saying,

"Push that loser right over the cliff, R.C.!" At that, Arthur gulped as he looked behind him: the cliff's edge growing ever closer. It quickly seemed as though pushing back was futile, and with the cliff growing ever closer, the blonde was running out of options.

"Don't make me…" He whispered, reaching to his side for his old sword, "Do this." The Reconstructed Caribou didn't listen as it pushed harder. The heels of Arthur's feet were just over the edge, pebbles and dust sprinkling over into the darkness. That settled it.

"Stop this at once!" He yelled, swinging his sword down with so much force that it was embedded into the creature's skull. The animal's natural eye went wide as the artificial one's red light dimmed to black. It creaked, groaned, and creaked again before it fell to its side; dead.

"Crap!" Both of the dog-ear hats yelped as they ran away, one of them dropping something in their haste. Kumajirou waddled over to the item and picked it up before he slowly brought it back to Arthur.

"Mrm. (Here, take this… whatever it is.)" The bear then started to doze off at Arthur's feet.

"Do you know what that thing is?" Heracles asked. After he looked at the paw-print marking on the cover, Arthur opened the item, paper pages flipping as he went along.

"It seems like a notebook of some sort." The blonde squinted his eyes, trying to read the words, "My god, the hand-writing is poor. But let's see here:

'All the animals around here suck… We need to make them cooler… So the new theme will be… Tougher! Rougher! Badder! We'll mix and match this and that to create whole new things that no one's ever seen before! This has been dubbed The Fascinating Chimera Project. Let's reconstruct and modify things steadily and in secret."

"What does that mean?"

"I have no idea…" Just then, a loud whirring accompanied by an _eerie_ tune sounded from a while's ahead. "Quick, follow it!" They all rushed forward until they stopped with a gasp, Kumajirou growling at what they saw. It was a large, round structure that was almost shaped like a dog's collar but made of metal and steel. It slowly rose into the air, that _eerie_ tune filling the air as it made its departure. After the strange entity was gone, Heracles began,

"Arthur..?"

"Let's go back to the base of the mountain." The blonde stated, not even wanting to think about what bizarre things this night had presented.


	8. Arthur Part 7

"Arthur!" Was the first thing that could be heard when the trio came back down the mountain via the still usable staple-ladder. The blonde helped Heracles and Kumajirou down before replying,

"Sadiq, what is it?"

"Paul was just here and he told me that the kids have been found! You should get over to them on the double!" He grabbed Heracles's arm, "You better not have been a hindrance to them."

"Thank goodness…" Arthur placed a hand on his chest, feeling his beating heart calm down a little. Kumajirou growled,

"Rrr? (Where were they then?)"

"Chineme said that it seems like they fell into a river and washed up near the village." Sadiq answered before he picked up his cane and announced, "Come on, the sooner you check up on your kids, the sooner we can find Francis!" They all wasted no time in running back to the forest. Heracles, as they ran, offered,

"Francis, though he kind of acts weird, is a good person. I'm sure god will look after him."

Arthur merely nodded, hoping that that would be the case.

* * *

><p>The majority of Mirror Falls had gathered around a large bonfire that had been set up. Many were conversing about the strange events of the night; others were worried about their missing villager. But for the moment, Arthur's attention went straight to finding…<p>

"Alfred! Matthew, I—" Arthur's words faltered as he looked at his two sons. As they sat by the fire, covered in blankets that Chineme had gotten from her inn, Matthew was trembling almost beyond control, not just from the cold, and his eyes were wide in a horrified panic. And Alfred. He simply looked into the fire with cold, blue eyes. "What's the matter?" That seemed to click both of them into focus because Matthew looked up and cried,

"Papa!"

"…" Both boys jumped into Arthur's arms, Matthew crying as Alfred still stayed quiet.

"There there… Everything's okay." Arthur tried to calm them down, but this was usually Francis's territory so all he could really do is hold and whisper to them. After a moment, Chineme walked over with a tray that held an old tea-pot and some cups.

"I made some tea, now. You should drink some so that you won't catch a cold." As Arthur and the boys took theirs, the dark-skinned woman called out, "That goes for everyone! Drink up so you'll have enough energy to keep up this search! We need to make sure that this whole family is back together safe and sound, oh!"

* * *

><p>So the next couple of minutes found everyone drinking tea and discussing plans of searching to find Francis. Arthur could only keep watching his sons. Alfred was still silent, not like him and all, and Matthew had curled up into a fetal position; gently rocking back and forth.<p>

"You two shouldn't worry," Lili said as she walked over and sat next to the two small ones. "Your mother will be okay. And when he gets home, I'm sure Francis will make you something nice and yummy to eat."

The two boys didn't respond.

After a while, the search was about to start again since everyone had rested up. Lili offered to watch the two boys while everyone else went off. All of a sudden,

"ARTHUR!" Everyone looked up at the scream, watching as Arthur's father came running quite swiftly for an older man. Michael panted heavily, his green eyes not straying from Arthur in the least.

"Yes father?" Arthur walked closer when his father didn't answer. "Father?" The older blonde's eyes were wide in something akin to horror as he shook his head, his body trembling.

"I'm not sure what to say…" Michael began, "But please… Stay calm and hear me out." The air was quiet as everyone looked at the scene, "Now, I have good news, and I have bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Is now the time to be playing games, Dad? Honestly, just spit it out." Michael looked at his youngest son for a good long moment before digging into his cloak pocket and pulled out a large fang; it was about the size of a grown man's forearm and a few parts of it were tinged a dark pink.

"I picked this up while I was searching for Francis. It's a Serpa's fang." Arthur silently raised an eyebrow as Michael's hands started shaking. "It's extremely strong. It should make for… For a good weapon…" He shoved it in Arthur's direction, sputtering out, "You should have it. Take it!" Arthur took the large fang and spoke,

"Now… The bad news?"

"Right. The bad news…" Michael faltered before he began again, "The bad news is…" He gulped, licking his lips, "It's where I found… That Serpa Fang." God, how he wanted to look anywhere _but_ his son's face, "It was in… In your…"

"Father?" Paul asked from his seat when Arthur was quiet. Michael looked up into the sky, tears streaming from his eyes and he choked out,

"It was pierced through Francis's heart!" There were gasps and a few screams of horror, even the tea-pot that Chineme had been carrying fell to the ground and shattered as everyone heard what had just happened.

"No… Wait…" Arthur shook his head, trying to take in what had just been said before he chuckled, "This can't… This…" Paul immediately rushed over when he saw that Arthur's breathing was becoming irregular,

"Try to stay calm, Arthur…" However, Arthur shoved Paul away before he rushed his father; pulling at his cloaks as he yelled,

"You're lying! Francis can't be… He couldn't…"

"Artie…", Paul whispered, trying to keep the air calm.

"It seems as though," Chineme whispered, tears dripping from her eyelashes, "The main reason then, that Alfred and Matthew are still here with us, is that Francis risked his life to protect them." At that, Arthur stood to his feet and stormed towards the two small boys near the fire; fire in his eyes and a growl in his throat. Lili gasped, standing in front of the boys,

"Wait a minute! You can talk to them with all this anger in y—" Arthur swiftly shut the girl up with a brutal backhand to her face. She yelped when she fell to the grassy floor, tears gathering at her eyes as she covered the stinging mark.

"Hey!" Vash screamed, rushing over to defend his sister, "Back the hell off or so help me, I'll –" Arthur wasn't having it, without saying a word he turned and punched Vash right in the stomach; causing him to fall to the ground.

"Damn it all to – Arthur, cool it, would you?" Paul growled as he tried to hold his brother down before he hurt anyone else; his wife joined in as soon as Elizaveta had the two boys in her arms.

"Calm down, Arthur!" Chineme screamed, "Please!"

"NO!" The blonde screamed as he was struggling out of their grasps. "You're all lying to me! If this is a joke, it isn't funny! Damn it, let me go! I have to find Francis!" There were a few silent gasps as a new piece came into this puzzle.

With solemn, horrified looks, Richard and Antonio were carrying a covered pallet into the clearing.

"Francis!" Arthur gasped, kicking Chineme away and elbowing his brother in the stomach. He rushed over to Richard and Antonio, his green eyes shining in slight mania, "I knew you weren't dead, Francis! They're all lying to me, I knew it! This is all some…"

"Arthur, stop!" Richard barked out as his younger brother desperately tried to uncover what they were carrying.

"..Some sick joke that they're trying to pull on me!" Richard pushed him away and the covered burden was placed on the ground. But before anyone could stop him, Arthur pulled the cover off, "Francis, I… I…" Elizaveta had just enough time to press the two boys' faces into her chest before Arthur let out a scream that was pure pain, anguish, and hatred of the world combined.

"NO! Francis, no! OH GOD! Who could… WHAT, I -? WHY?"

In the heat of the moment, Alfred had moved enough to see the scene; his blue eyes taking in the whole scene.

Matthew blinked at how still his brother was acting so he moved to watch as well.

Amethyst eyes widened.

So much red…

The gem-like eyes turned into pinpricks of their former selves.

The hand lying lifeless on the ground…

Most of the body was…

Matthew screamed, forcing his way away from Elizaveta and running a few feet away to vomit up whatever he had left in his stomach. Meanwhile, Arthur was screaming like a man possessed. He had tried pulling out his hair and now he was punching his fists into the fire.

"DAMN YOU, WHY?" He screamed up towards the sky, sending his fury to God himself. Before his anger could get any worse, Sadiq silently walked up behind Arthur before he quickly swung the handle of his cane against Arthur's head, knocking the blonde unconscious…

* * *

><p><em>Arthur was dreaming. However, it seemed more like he was replaying the scenes that had transpired earlier that week… <em>

"_Do you have to go this week?" Francis blinked, sending Alfred and Matthew to go play with Kumajirou. Licking his lips, he sidled up close to his lover and asked, _

"_Arthur… Are you going to miss me?" Bushy eyebrows furrowed when Francis was able to sneak a quick kiss of the lips. Arthur fumed, _

"_As if I would miss you, bloody frog! I'm just worried about Alfred and Matthew falling behind in their studies." _

"_So you say…" Francis hummed. "Oh well, time to get going. Alfred, Matthieu! Let's get going, oui?" The two small boys rushed over, Kumajirou slowly waddling behind. After making sure that they were all prepared, they started off, Francis calling back, "Take care of my roses, mon amour! They need a loving touch, so you'll have to work twice as hard!" _

"_Why I—" Arthur wanted so to respond to that, but one of their goats had just gotten loose and was making a bee-line for one of the rose beds. "Damn it, no! Get away from that!" _

_But that blissful scene soon faded away, leaving Arthur on his back in a field of roses. "Where… Am I?" Arthur's voice echoed in the area. His head was dizzy as he looked around, the smell of roses completely filling his senses. His panic subsided when the brilliant sun above was blocked by a beautifully familiar face. "Francis…" He whispered before the taller male silently placed a soft, warm kiss on his lips. _

_Arthur wanted to say something about the other man's stubble when, all too soon, Francis pulled away. "Wait! Come back!" Arthur shouted as he stood up. _

_But Francis was too busy walking away. He did, however, turn back once. He smiled before he turned and walked away; his figure fading into a swirl of rose petals. _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**Am I... Am I a horrible person? This is just how the game went when Lucas and Claus's mother Hinawa died the same way. And their father Flint went into even more of a rampage! But I have to ask, did I make Arthur too... emotional? Oh well, I would love to hear everyone's thoughts. Please and thank you. **

**R.I.P. Francis. **

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	9. Arthur Part 8

**A/N: Okay, I just want to thank those who read and reviewed. Unfortunately, I don't know if people have been reading except for togepi 2498 and the two people who reviewed anonymously. So thank you 'Haha' and 'Random Reader'. Hopefully you guys, and more, will read and review this story as it goes on. Anyway, let's go. Continuing straight from teh last chapter guys! **

**Disclaimer - I'm not that much of a creative genius to have made up Hetalia and I have never had as much childhood trauma as the creator of the Mother games had.**

* * *

><p><em>From meeting you in grade school, <em>

_To the day I dug your grave... _

_My love lives on..._

* * *

><p>"Don't go!" Arthur screamed out, sitting straight upright in his bed; knocking over Matthew who had been watching over his papa in his unconsciousness.<p>

"Owie…" Matthew whimpered, not even getting a 'good morning' as Arthur rushed by. The blonde ran all throughout the farmhouse, opening door after door and calling out for a blonde who would not be there.

"Francis!" Arthur cried out before he sank to the ground, grassy eyes wide as they stared straight ahead into the empty room. "He's gone… It's real…"

The sound of shattering ceramic from downstairs, brought Arthur out of his panic as he shoved Matthew out of the way when he walked over, rushing down the stairs and into the kitchen. A part of his heart still expected to see Francis in the kitchen making breakfast, but Arthur frowned; his eyebrows furrowing as he saw Alfred climbing up the counters and trying to get at the loaf of bread that was in the highest cabinet.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, his body still a bit numb from the previous night's events (had it been the previous night? Arthur was still so numb that he didn't know what _time_ it was). Alfred only glanced back, his blue eyes cold as he replied,

"Getting something to eat."

"You are going," Arthur gritted out as he stomped over to the counter and pulled the boy away, "To break your neck! Do you want that? DO YOU?" Alfred was kicking, biting, and screaming; trying anything he could to get away from the older blonde.

Matthew slowly walked in on the scene, his eyes widening in horror before he tried to speak up, "Stop fighting! Please stop fighting!" The two in front of him paid no heed, still struggling against each other until they heard a voice.

"Arthur." Said blonde looked towards the kitchen window, seeing his oldest brother standing there. The auburn-haired man jerked his head in the direction of the barn. Arthur sat both twins down at the table, setting the bread down before immediately going to see what Richard wanted.

* * *

><p>Both men were quiet as they walked through the farm compound until they were behind the large, red shelter. Arthur looked to the ground, his feet kicking against the dust and grass, before Richard finally spoke, "We need to decide… Ahem, on what to do. With the…" He sighed, looking up to the sky, "With the body."<p>

"You're going to make me bury him." Arthur whispered, the disbelief of all this still flooding his mind. Richard shook his head,

"We can't just let him stay out in the elements like he is, Arthur! A black sheet can only do so much!"

"God! Damn it!" Arthur coughed out, his breathing threatening to speed up as he took in what his brother had said. Finally, he closed his eyes; anything to hide himself from this, and asked,

"Where?"

"Arthur, listen –"

"Just tell me where, damn you!" The blonde screamed, not even wanting to hear any excuse of sympathy. Richard wanted to say something else, but this tragedy combined with Arthur's naturally bred stubbornness? No, it wasn't needed.

"At the Sunset Cemetery."

* * *

><p>It was raining again. It seemed to do nothing but since that wretched day. The Sunset Cemetery of Mirror Falls was, usually, a calm, lovely place for those who passed onto their eternal slumber. But with the downpours of rain, it was a dark, grey, solemn area. Most of the dirt and soil had combined into a soggy, dreary mix of gunk that was nearly impossible to get through. But that wasn't stopping a familiar merchant from making his way through the miserable ooze to the highest point of the Cemetery: a lone cliff that overlooked the entire town. It was one of the only parts of the cemetery that had some color: the pelts of grass that were currently being dug up.<p>

It was on that plot of land that Arthur was working tirelessly at emptying a hole of suitable depth and width. The rain had soaked the man from clothes to bone, his hair plastered to his face… But Arthur's eyes remained focused as he dug.

"Hey, Arthur…" Sadiq began as he saw the blonde completely engrossed in his work. "Ya know, Heracles is really good at digging. I could call him to… do this for you." Arthur seemed not to hear the merchant as he forced the shovel into the soft earth, stomped down, and pulled up before setting another pile of dirt to the side. "Arthur…"

"I couldn't protect him." The voice was so faint that Sadiq wasn't sure if he had heard it right. Then, "I couldn't do something as simple as making sure that nothing happened to Francis… The least I could do," He forced the shovel into the earth again, "Is dig his grave."

When Sadiq left, an hour of trying of trying to help later, Arthur eventually finished digging. He climbed out of the hole, his hands slipping a few times on account of the rain before he managed to get out completely.

He stood there, letting the downpour of rain wash over him. Arthur slowly looked over to the side of the grave he had just dug. Francis's body lay there, wrapped up in sheets of his favorite colors: blue, white, red. There were also three full bouquets of roses along with a pillow and some blankets there. Arthur picked up one of the blankets and opened it up before jumping back down into the grave.

One by one, as if making a bed, Arthur laid the blankets out in impeccable order. He climbed up and got the pillow; fluffing it up before he sat it down.

Finally, the part that he had been having panic-attacks about. As gently as he could, Arthur took Francis's body and began to slowly make his way to the grave. The rain was making things hazardous so he moved as slow as possible, carrying Francis's body down, down, down into the space. He laid the bundle down, dusting off the sheets.

He couldn't help himself. He unwrapped the upper part of the sheets, revealing Francis's peaceful face (Michael had worked through the night and morning to make the body as presentable as possible). His hands had been cleaned of blood and were now folded over his chest.

With a shaky hand, Arthur moved a hand to the lifeless face. 'So cold…' His mind briefly registered before he pressed his lips to the sleeping one's forehead. "Francis," He began quietly, "I have to fill up this space or else you'll get drenched. But when I do, you'll get covered in dirt. I know," He choked back a growing sob, "I know how much you hate dirt, you bloody frog… So, if you have any protest… Any at all, please Francis!" The tears were streaming down from his eyes, "Wake up… Please…"

The body didn't stir.

Arthur shook his head before he forced himself to climb out the grave and retrieving the rose bouquets. "Extravagance all the way…" He chuckled, his voice hollow as he placed each and every rose around Francis in a beautiful arrangement, "It's what you would have wanted…"

By the time Arthur climbed out of the grave for the final time, Francis's resting place looked beautiful enough to rival any church or shrine. He grabbed the shovel and, clenching his teeth, he began to fill the space back up. He tried his best to start at the bottom, so he could see Francis's face as long as possible, but eventually dirt began to sprinkle over the fair blonde's face… Then cover…

Then… He was gone.

The last thing that left was… to erect the tombstone. Arthur used what little strength he had to pull up the block of marble and granite. When it was steady, the blonde man sat up against it; trying to catch his breath.

He looked back at the stone memorial, reading what had been engraved on it:

_Francis Bonnefoy_

_Tender to roses, _

_Lover of all, _

_Mother to the twins Alfred and Matthew, _

_Dearest to Arthur Kirkland. _

_May God watch over this gentle soul for all eternity._

Arthur sat there at Francis's tombstone all day. He didn't even get up to eat or check on his sons.

* * *

><p>Arthur, despite everyone's suggestions, didn't want to actually have the funeral at that moment. No, he kept putting it off and waiting… putting it off and waiting… Until three years later. It was one week, on a rare sunny day, that Arthur announced to Alfred and Matthew, "Go to your room and put on anything that's black. We're going to the Cemetery today."<p>

"But…" Matthew tried to speak, but a cold look from Arthur as the man walked into the room he once shared with his rose and shut the door. "Oui Papa." Alfred looked at his brother, then the door that Arthur had gone through before shook his head and went towards their own room.

* * *

><p>Sunset Cemetery was filled with everyone from Mirror Falls. Yet everyone had been quiet on that day. But was it any different from any other day since Francis's death? No, not really. But everyone was preparing to give their final respects to their favorite romantic. They had been especially quiet when Arthur walked to the grave.<p>

The blonde ignored all the stares he got as he moved closer to his love's final resting place, a bouquet of roses in his hand. He looked up and saw two familiar faces walking down from the cliff.

"Lili. Vash." Arthur murmured as the two were walking back from placing their own flowers at the gravestone.

"Oh, Arthur." Vash replied, moving Lili behind him, "You gave us a real fright those two years ago. I'm sorry about what happened to Francis… But your outburst was unnecessary!"

"Big Brother…" Lili tugged on Vash's arm, signaling that that was enough, "Please." Vash frowned but he let it go as he began the walk back to their new house. Arthur walked up to Francis's grave and briefly noticed that Jeanne was there with Matthew; . It seemed as though all of them had come here at separate times. But –

"Oh, Arthur." The tired blonde was pulled from his thoughts as Tino walked to the grave, which had already amassed a great amount of offerings by this time, and placed an exquisite sprig of evergreen on a hard to find empty spot. "Berwald is still at the Bell Tower, I'm afraid," Tino sighed, "He sends his condolences."

Without another word, Arthur moved to place his flowers on the grave, barely noticing his father who was rigth next to him.

"This is impossible…" Michael whispered, "Even our oldest citizens have yet to die, why does such a young soul... Have to be one of the few to fill this empty Cemetery?" He shook his head before turning to leave, "I can't do this. I have to go calm myself…"

Arthur, once again, seemed to be out of focus when his father left. He only turned his head when Chineme came along, carrying a myriad of different things for the grave.

"Arthur…" The dark-skinned woman began, readjusting all the items in her hands, "I would have thought that you came here earlier."

"Why?" The blonde asked, letting the woman pass. She set up a vase of flowers, a cake, five candles and a bottle of wine with a glass. She quickly lit the candles before she clasped her hands for prayer. After a moment, she whispered,

"Alfred was… here almost as the crack of dawn, oh." Her dark eyes opened, "I remember calling out to him, asking 'What are you doing out by yourself, now? Where are your father and brother?' But he…" She turned to Arthur and sighed, "He simply gave a soft smile before he ran off."

"That boy…" Arthur groaned, running a hand through his hair, "Acting like a fool now of all times." He looked around the area, seeing and hearing the following:

"I wish I could grab fate and punch a hole in its face!" Paul seethed, clenching his hand into a fist; his eyes stinging with tears.

"If only…" Antonio whispered, "If only we started looking earlier…"

Before long, Matthew walked up to him. The now eight year-old's face was heart-breaking: his amethyst eyes red and watery, his mouth in a sad line as he hiccupped before he looked up and began,

"Why did you lie to me..?" Arthur sighed,

"What are you talking about?"

"You… Auntie Jeanne… And grandpa… You always say that… That anything could come true if we prayed with all of our hearts." Matthew began, rubbing at one of the streams of tears on his face. He immediately looked up and cried, "I've been praying for three years! Maman can't even cook for us, or tend to his roses, or brush my hair when it's messy anymore!" Everyone watched on as the small child let out his grief and frustration, "I can't stand this! I loved him too much for this to happen! I don't want this!" At that moment, Jeanne walked over and let Matthew buried her face in her black dress.

"Long time no see Arthur." The blonde woman offered, "I haven't been here in such a long time. But I moved down from my home after I heard about Francis. These past three years have been miserable…" She let out a shuddering sigh as she looked at her best friend's grave. "Just after… I had such a wonderful time with my nephews…" She let her fingers play with Matthew's hair for a moment before she thought of something. "Speaking of which, where is Alfred?" Arthur seized up as he remembered what his brother's wife had said earlier. He pulled Matthew away from Jeanne and commanded,

"Matthew, stop crying." The boy, of course, couldn't. But he did look up at his father when he asked, "Where is your brother?"

"I…" Matthew looked away, "..Don't know." Arthur growled before he surged forward and pulled Matthew via the scruff of his neck and screamed, shaking the small boy like a madman,

"TELL ME! Damn you, stop keeping secrets from us and tell me where Alfred is!"

"Arthur, non!" Jeanne screamed in horror, trying to claw the man's hands away from the frightened child.

"I don't where he left to!" Matthew screamed, "He took Papa's homemade knife and went into the mountains to get revenge for Maman! But I don't know where!"

"You raised an honest child Arthur." Jeanne sighed, but she was truly worried about the current development.

"Little bastard!" Arthur screamed, throwing Matthew down to the ground, "Why didn't you stop him?"

"I…" Matthew whimpered, tears rushing down his face, "I said that I wanted to go too… But he said he wanted to go alone…"

"Matthew!" Arthur screamed before he looked around and tried to calm himself before he seethed, "Grow up! If you know what's good for you, you will grow up Matthew!"

Matthew's eyes were wide before he stood on shaky legs. His entire frame was trembling before he shook his head and bolted off, sobbing and screaming. The small blonde tripped, cutting his knees, before he stood back up and ran more.

"You have lost your mind…" Jeanne's eyes reflected everyone else's astonishment as she shook her head at what had just transpired. "He's just a boy. He's your son, Arthur!"

"I need to find Alfred." The blonde covered his eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh as he added, "Please, don't coddle him, Jeanne! He could have single-handedly killed his brother!"

"Arthur!" But before the cry left her lips, Arthur had bolted straight for town. He ran. He ran and ran and he ran. He had to prepare for the search.

"I have to go to the Prayer Sanctuary and get the sword I had made from that Serpa fang.", he panted as he went in that direction.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean 'Alfred is gone'?" Michael screamed, tearing at his hair when Arthur told him the news. The younger blonde was quiet as he looked at the Serpa Fang blade. He pulled out a hair from his head and dropped it on the fang's sharpened edge and watched as the hair split in half. "Why do you keep doing this?" Michael called out to the dragon-painting on the wall.<p>

"I'm leaving with the sword," Arthur announced as he was almost at the door.

"Arthur, please!" Michael grabbed his son's arm, "Don't go without offering a prayer first!"

"Get off of me!" Arthur growled, shaking his father away, "Last time I prayed here, it cost me Francis. Do you think I'm going to pray to a god that will do _that_ to me?" Arthur sheathed the new sword into the holster before he stormed out of the Sanctuary.

* * *

><p>Next Arthur went to Sadiq's bazaar. The man had a collection of usable items that he was always more than willing to give people. Hell, what's the use of having stuff if people can't use it right? <strong>( 1 )<strong>. When Arthur walked in, Sadiq (dressed in black since he had visited the Cemetery earlier) greeted,

"Hey Arthur! How ya holdin' up?" Arthur gave a sneer as he replied,

"Well, let's see: I went to my lover's funeral, had a scone for breakfast, and - Oh yeah!" Arthur slammed his fists down onto the counter before screaming, "Thanks to Matthew, Alfred went after that damn Serpa to try and get revenge!"

"What?" Sadiq yelled, "That boy's gonna get himself – Why am I sitting here talking?" The merchant ran to the back of his store and brought out a box. "They're Thunder and Sprinting balls. Take 'em and get your boy back!"

"Thank you Sadiq," Arthur nodded as he took the box and left.

* * *

><p>Arthur ran through the town, back and forth as he tried to prepare for the long journey ahead. He was basically done with the preparations when there was a call of, "Mr. Kirkland!" Arthur blinked, he knew that voice,<p>

"Peter?" A blonde boy, dressed in blue and white clothing jumped over to Arthur and began,

"How are ya?" Arthur sighed. His young cousin was always so damn oblivious to situations. But he couldn't hold it against the child.

"Fine Peter. Shouldn't you be studying?" The blonde boy shook his head,

"Not when you look so sad!", as he tugged on Arthur's hand, "Come on into my humble abode! I'll get you some of the Nut Bread that Lili helped me make!"

* * *

><p>Peter had, one day, decided that he was tired of living with their father. So, out of the blue, he decided to build and move into his own home (of course his cousins helped). So he managed to live on his own for a couple years in his tiny house.<p>

"Here we are!" He exclaimed as he finished wrapping up half of the nut bread that Lili baked for him that morning. Arthur was, admittedly, a bit amused when Peter gave it to him.

"Only half?"

"Well…" Peter looked away, a blush on his face, "I'm expecting company later today. They said that they have business to attend to, so I want to have something to give them when they get here!"

"Alright," Arthur sighed, taking the bread, "Thank you though, I appreciate it." Arthur gave a short wave before he left Peter's small home.

"I suppose that I should go thank Lili…" Arthur thought before he shook his head, "I don't have time! But…" He looked towards a certain area of town and noted that it was where Vash kept a dog kennel for raising dogs and puppies to be animal herders. "Vash should be there… He could thank Lili for me." The blonde walked over to the kennel.

It was surrounded by a wooden-gate, so the dogs wouldn't get any ideas. The smallest puppies began barking and yipping as Arthur jumped the fence and walked inside. Just as he was about to call for Vash, however, he noted that the younger blonde wasn't alone. A strange man was petting one of the older dogs, right between the ears, as he spoke to Vash.

"Such wonderful dogs…" The strange figure, with his cream-colored hair, violet eyes, and heavy clothing that seemed suited for a winter storm was all smiles as he kept complimenting the members of Vash's kennel.

"Thanks." Vash beamed at the kind words, "You know, when people praise my dogs, it makes me feel good too!"

"So…" The stranger went on, "We have an arrangement, da?" Vash thought for a moment before he nodded. But he had to ask,

"What do you need them all for anyway?" The stranger chuckled,

"Yours is to receive, not to ask." He turned around to leave, not before saying, "I will be back with something nice for you and to work out all the loose ends soon. Until then, Comrade." The stranger walked past Arthur. The blonde had only glanced at him when he first came by, but the stranger looked at the other man with a gleam in his eye before he whispered something unintelligible.

In an instant, Arthur felt a pain in his chest like no other. He fell to the ground, clutching at his heart and hyperventilating as if he was being compressed by heavy stones. "Hey!" Vash yelled, when he saw Arthur's suffering, "Get up Arthur! Come on, what's wrong with you! Get a grip, would you?"

The yells and shaking seemed to be enough to jar the older blonde out of his attack. He sat up and took a few much needed gulps of air before he stood on swaying legs, panting, "Thank you Vash. But I have to go… Alfred's missing… Have to… Find him." Vash was about to say that the blonde should rest, but after the event three years ago, he knew not to get in Arthur's way.

"Be careful." He whispered as Arthur walked out of his kennel yard. **( 2 )**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**( 1 ) Mirror Falls (and the original Tazmily Village) don't have currency. If you need something, just ask for it and take it. Seems pretty sweet. **

**( 2 ) This scene is based on a scene in the actual game that you're not actually supposed to see. But thanks to the Let's Play of Mother 3 by the famous Chuggaaconroy, I was able to see it. I put this scene in because, well, it's important for the plot… **

**Oh no! What will become of Alfred? Will Arthur find him in time? And who was that stranger? Find out next time…**

**Thanks for reading! **_**Please**_** review!**

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	10. Arthur Part 9

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading and bigger thanks to those who reviewed (Lydiacatfish, you get props). Now let's continue this tale.**

* * *

><p><em>From meeting you in grade school, <em>

_To the day I dug your grave... _

_My love lives on..._

Grass-green eyes scanned the ravaged remains of Sol forest as Arthur walked through the debris on his way up to the mountains. The forest was still soaked from the earlier rain, making it difficult to walk without sinking your feet into mud or slipping on grass.

Arthur tried to make his way through the damaged forest without making too much of a mess. As he walked, he could hear the hisses and growls of various creatures. He nearly jumped back when he saw what looked like a potato rushing by. The creature blinked its yellow eyes before rushing off again. "This forest has gone straight to hell…" Arthur groaned as he kept walking.

He wasn't even to the forest's exit before there was an angry hissing from the floor. He looked down and saw a red snake arching up in defense. "Easy…" Arthur was about to try and step away as calmly as possible, but then he heard a din of buzzing from above. Looking up, he saw a swarm of small mice with wings, much like when he had rescued Lili three years ago.

"Damn it - AH!" Arthur cried out as the snake bit him. He flailed his arm about wildly, trying to get the snake to let go before it could inject any poison into its body, but when his arm began to feel numb, he knew it was too late. He grabbed the snake's body and, clenching his teeth as he ripped the snake away. He swung its body down, its head cracking open as it hit a rock.

"Damn…" The blonde hissed, clutching at his arm. The blonde shakily managed to take a few steps, immediately being surrounded by the bug-mice. "Stupid… animals…" Arthur whispered as he fell to his knees. His vision was a blur, everything going gray and hazy…

"Arthur!" Just before he passed out in the center of the attacking animals, he could have sworn he saw Jeanne rushing over…

* * *

><p>Open. The sight of a wooden ceiling. Close.<p>

Open. The feel of warmth and the smell of home-cooking. Close.

Finally, Arthur opened his eyes and kept them open as he tried to figure out,

"Where… Ah." He seethed as he felt a rush of blood to his head. He tried feeling around, sensing that he was in some sort of bed. A moment later, footsteps announced that someone had walked into the room he was in. Jeanne's kind face looked down at him before she gave a soft smile,

"Thank goodness you're awake." She took a handkerchief from her dress pocket and wiped at Arthur's forehead. "This is my house. I am surprised that you do not remember."

"Damn snakes." Arthur hissed as his head was still pounding from his body fighting against the venom. Jeanne gave a sad nod as she began again,

"Such strange things are filling the forest now of days. Like those strange mouse creatures with the bug wings. And the walking potatoes…" After a while of listening to Jeanne speak, Arthur tossed the sheets off of himself and stood to his feet.

"Thank you Jeanne. But I have to go find Alfred before he gets hurt."

"Of course, but if you could wait a moment." Arthur was busy trying to get all his belongings together, while Jeanne retrieved some food items from her kitchen cupboard and as she walked back up to the room where Arthur was resting, she picked up a broom that had been laying on the floor. When she was at the door, Arthur was just about to rush out, "I think…" Jeanne began, "I might know where Alfred may have gone." Arthur's eyes went wide before she whipped around, asking,

"Where?" Jeanne allowed Arthur to go past and dusted her dress off. She looked at him and smiled,

"According to Grenouille Intelligence, he is at my friend's house right about now."

"Take me! Now!"

"Of course! But we have to get going outside, oui?"

Arthur allowed Jeanne to go out the door first and the woman waited for him before she asked,

"Arthur, when I said 'Grenouille Intelligence', you were probably confused, weren't you?" Arthur frowned,

"Mostly because I have no idea what 'Grenouille' means…" Jeanne giggled before giving a knowing smile as she explained,

"My friend and his companions are able to employ the Grenouille, or frogs, as messengers. They are able to talk to all sorts of animals, you see."

"Excuse me?" This was all starting to seem a bit fishy to the already skeptical blonde. "Jeanne, repeat that for m—"

"Ah, look there!" Arthur turned and saw a red lizard standing a few feet away. "It is one of their directional lizards! He will help us find the way. Come on!" Jeanne rushed forward to greet the lizard, Arthur slowly following her and asking,

"Is this some sort of a joke?"

"You have doubts, don't you? About my friends?" Jeanne tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and started, "My friends are known as 'Magypsies'. They have lived for centuries isolated from us humans and are very wise." When the lizard sensed that Jeanne had finished talking, it stood on its hind legs before it began to run in a certain direction. "Don't lose it!" Jeanne smiled, giving chase to the lizard as she pulled a disbelieving Arthur behind him.

* * *

><p>They had been running for a few minutes, Arthur panting because that lizard was <em>fast<em>! His speed slowed down a bit, causing Jeanne to say,

"Arthur, you're quite hesitant now." She smiled, "That must mean you wish to hear more about the Magypsies!"

"No, please don't –" The man tried to discourage Jeanne, but it was too late as she spoke on,

"The Magypsies have mysterious powers which they have been using to protect something here for a very long time. They are neither human nor beast –" Arthur groaned,

"That makes no sense—"

"Neither man nor woman –"

"WHAT?" Jeanne stopped to hum for a moment before adding,

"I have absolutely no idea how old they are either… Hm? That explanation didn't explain much, did it?"

"NO!" Arthur screamed. Jeanne sighed,

"Basically, they're strange. All of them. Every one. But they are very good-natured!" They both had to speed up in order to catch up with the lizard, but it finally stopped.

They were a wide river, at the bank of which were two frogs. One of the frogs saw Jeanne and began to hop and croak happily before the other turned towards the water and let out a deep croak. It was a minute before one big bullfrog appeared on the surface of the water, followed by one more, then two more, before finally; there was a path of bullfrogs leading across the river. Jeanne smiled as she patted the two smaller frogs on the head, thanking them for their help, but Arthur merely sighed as he wanted to question what the hell was going on.

"Now we just have to cross!" Jeanne smiled as she began hopping from one frog to another.

"You can't be…" Arthur sputtered but stopped himself before he could say anything else and just decided to follow Jeanne's example.

The two hopped and hopped until they made it across and moved further into the mountains. However, it wasn't long before they happened upon an obstacle in the shape of a boar; the animal scrapping its hooves against the ground, squealing angrily as it glared in the two humans' direction.

"Zut alors!" Jeanne cried out, "It seems so angry!" The boar shook its head, frothing drool splashing to the ground, before it charged at the two. Arthur growled out before he shoved Jeanne away,

"Move, would you?" Just as the boar came close, Arthur brought his sword in front of him. At the sight of the fearsome weapon, the boar skidded to a stop and ran away, squealing in fright.

"Well!" Jeanne laughed, "That is one way to get rid of a boar, oui?"

"Jeanne. Alfred?"

"Right," the woman gulped, "This way please."

* * *

><p>The two had quite the walk to make still. They climbed through ledges, bubbling streams, wild animals, and some more strange creatures… Until they made it to a place that made Jeanne smile and Arthur groan. "We are here!" Jeanne laughed as she rushed forward. Arthur looked in front of them to see a simple, cottage-like house that was composed completely of pink sea-shells and pink marble.<p>

"Where is _here_ exactly?" Arthur had to ask, despite not wanting another long winded explanation like Jeanne had given earlier.

"This is where my Magypsie friend lives! Come on, let's hurry inside!" The only thought that filled Arthur's mind at that moment as the two crossed the pink stone bridge was:

"_So much pink…"_

Inside the house was almost as extravagant as the outside! Everything from the furniture to the regular items was made of something shiny, and pink frilly pillows with soft, velvet blankets were strewn about in decorative taste. Arthur and Jeanne had just passed a giant stuffed Pegasus-unicorn when he saw something a tad… weird.

A group of people, each dressed completely in one color (Pink, Green, Violet, Orange, Yellow) were all about to sit down to what appeared to be a party of some sort. The table had been set to almost over-flowing with sweet things, teas, and wines; a grand affair.

"What do they have to cele—Oh, well hello." His attention had been disrupted by a young woman, dressed in a gown of red, who was returning from the second floor of the house. "You're a very pretty girl, aren't you?" The young _woman_ frowned before _she_ ran _her_ fingers down _her_ side and into the pocket of _her_ red dress before _she_ whipped out a knife and managed to knick Arthur on the cheek before _she_ whispered,

"Stupid human…"

Arthur's eyes followed the mysterious young _woman_ as _she_ walked away to sit at the large, round dining table that was over-laden with sweets and wine. _She_ sat in between a slightly older _woman_ with short blonde hair and a very… _generous_ endowment that was barely hidden by _her_ yellow gown and next to a young _boy_ who had fallen asleep; _his_ face buried in a pie.

There was a young _man_ who had the keenest habit of readjusting _his_ glasses after every seven words that he spoke and he was about to ask the endowed woman something when she looked over at the doorway.

"Visitors!" The oldest _woman_ beamed as she stood and walked over, the most peculiar sounds emanating from _her_ breasts as _she_ moved. "This is wonderful! Will you be joining us for some of this cake? It is simply scrumptious, yes?"

"Ah, is that Jeanne?" A brunette who was standing beside the giant, silken armchair at the head of the table stood and smiled, "It's so good to see you again, snookums!" Jeanne rushed over to the smiling brunette and hugged him, the both of them giving each other kisses on the cheek. There was then the sound of someone clearing their throat. Everyone looked towards the head of the table to see a young blonde in a pink gown with stunning jade eyes looking at the two who had just entered. He gave his hair a flip before he smiled,

"Liet, like, introduce us to your friends!"

"Of course, where are my manners?" The brunette from before chuckled, "This is my good friend Jeanne! And…" He looked to Arthur, giving a 'well?' motion with his hands.

"Arthur."

"Arthur! Jeanne and Arthur!" The brunette laughed again before stating, "Let's introduce you to our little family here! You're lucky because today we're having a party and _nearly_ all of the Magypsies are here!" It was then that Arthur noticed the empty chair and tableware on the opposite side of the table. The blonde up front smiled before he announced,

"Like, I'm the Magypsie Pol!" The _man_ dressed in violet with the eye-glasses readjusted them before speaking,

"I'm the Magypsie Est."

"I am the Magypsie Ukra!" The buxom _woman_ in Yellow laughed as she set two plates for the new visitors. The angry blonde _girl_ in red whispered,

"The Magypsie Bel," Before _she_ yanked at the sleeping orange-clad _boy's_ head, who then murmured,

"I'm Magypsie Lat…", before drifting back to sleep. The green-wearing brunette who started all this smiled,

"And I'm the Magypsie Liet… I'm afraid the only one of us who isn't here is Magypsie R—" Pol had taken the opportunity to cover Liet's mouth before _he_ started talking,

"So, I can tell that you're, like, here for something."

"How did you –?" Arthur whispered,

"Know?" Pol's eyes shined for a second, "I just do." Jeanne gave a nervous chuckle before she spoke up,

"I heard that you might have helped my nephew. Do you know where he might have went?" Pol hummed before he leaned back into his chair and crossed one of his legs over the other before he snapped his fingers,

"Like, I remember now! That hyperactive little squirt who rushed by here a while ago?" Pol smiled as his shining eyes looked Arthur up… and down… "You are Arthur Kirkland: Father to the twins Alfred and Matthew, Love of the late Francis Bonnefoy."

"Where is he?" Arthur frowned. Pol hummed again before giving a happy smile,

"You both have the same serious expression when you're angry. It's almost cute!"

"But what about Alfred?" Jeanne asked as she saw Arthur beginning to lose his patience.

"Oh, he took off." Pol huffed as if he were talking about the weather. He took a tea cup from the table and muttered, "He was spouting something about avenging his Mom, or something like that…", before taking a sip. "I was feeling generous though. So I sent him on his way with a totally awesome, super-powerful PSI technique~!"

"So he's not even here?" Arthur screamed, "We just spent thirty minutes talking to this stupid woman –"

"I'm not a woman!" Pol laughed.

"This stupid man –"

"I'm not a man!" Pol laughed again.

"Gah!" Arthur growled, "Jeanne, get me out of here! I am not staying here with a bunch of idiots who would send a child to his death!"

"Oh, get over yourselves!" Everyone turned to Bel as the _girl_ spoke, "Why should we care in the least about you humans? You're here one minute and gone the next." Lat raised his head up again and added,

"You poor things barely live up to a hundred years, if that…" He yawned, "That's like the blink of an eye to a Magypsie, why would someone bother to care about such a short existence?" Ukra noticed the change in atmosphere, so she tried to calm the air,

"Now, now! Bel, Lat…" They stopped talking to let the gentlest of the Magypsies speak, "Humans care about such short lives whereas we may not. Isn't that right Jeanne?" When Jeanne nodded, Ukra continued, "See? I understand how you are feeling, Arthur, really I do."

"Ukra…" Jeanne whispered, but Arthur only gritted out,

"Whether you _care_ or _not_, could you just _please_ tell me where my son went?" Pol sighed,

"Enough! He went to the Serpa Plateau, hyper as always… He barely seemed to care about his _own_ tiny life!" The blonde readjusted himself in his seat, "But, if you go now, you might just catch him~!"

"The Serpa Plateau?" Jeanne gasped, "The quickest way there is behind this place, but even so… It is such a dangerous place! Arthur, let us hurry!" Arthur didn't have to be told twice before he ran out of the pink, over-decorated, sea-shell house. Jeanne groaned before saying, "Thank you very much!", and following. Pol's house was uncharacteristically quiet for a long moment afterwards.

"Although," Pol sighed when sensed the presence of the humans completely gone from the area, "I think I'm totes gonna grow to regret my decision."

"Why's that?" Liet asked, pouring a round of tea for everyone in the room. Pol sipped again and began,

"I had that child use the technique I gave him on me, to see how powerful it was. He used it very well, but…" The blonde shivered as he remembered the earlier events, "It was the first time, in a very long time, that someone was able to make me cry."

The teapot fell to the floor but just before it shattered, Liet remembered himself and held out his hands; a sphere of green light surrounded the ceramic utensil, gently floating it back up into the brunette's shaking hands. "You don't possibly mean -?" Pol nodded, looking to the empty chair,

"I do."

* * *

><p>Jeanne, true to her knowledge, had led Arthur to a dark cavern that separated the main part of the mountains from the Serpa Plateau.<p>

"Arthur," Jeanne whispered as they walked through the damp, dark path, "As you can see, it is very dark in here. But you should not worry! I have been through here hundreds of times, so I shall lead the way!" Arthur tried to watch as the woman walked ahead of him. He could only think,

"This will not end well…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Will Arthur's thoughts come to fruition or will Alfred be found? **

**Please review! Please! **

**-Tyranno's girl**


	11. Arthur Part 10

_From meeting you in grade school, _

_To the day I dug your grave... _

_My love lives on..._

By the time that Jeanne had led Arthur out of the cavern, he felt as though he was about to snap at any moment. The whole time Jeanne had talked on and on and on about everything and nothing to the point that Arthur was sure that he was only going by instinct and sheer will rather than conscious thought (God, did Jeanne ever stop talking?). Finally, they walked out of the cavern and, as soon as Arthur looked in front of them, he flinched.

"Arthur? What is it?" Arthur didn't, couldn't answer. He merely took a few steps forward as he regarded a massive, strange device made of steel and shaped like a dog-collar.

"That's the second time that I've seen this type of thing…" Arthur frowned, "The last time was that night those many years ago when…" He trailed off before the horrid imagery could take hold in his mind. "Let's go! Now!"

"Yes, but wait!" Jeanne was about to say something else but she sighed before she had to follow Arthur.

* * *

><p>They were at the end of the cavern and Jeanne was trying to get Arthur to calm down about the predicament, saying that Alfred was just around the corner, when she stopped in her tracks and looked up ahead.<p>

Two young men sat on the edge of the cliff, relaxing from working on the machine that was next to them.

"Hey!" Arthur yelled out, "What are you two doing here? And it better not be mutilating any more animals!"

"Crap!" One of the dog ear-hats yelped before jumping down from the cliff, the other looked towards the device that they had been working on before he followed his companion.

"So bizarre…" Jeanne hummed before her eyes moved to the strange device. It was shaped like a man-sized oval and it had an engraving of a paw-print on the front. "What is this thing?" She reached forward to touch it, causing Arthur to run forward and grasp her hand.

"Jeanne, no!" In trying to get Jeanne away from the strange contraption, Arthur caused them both to bump into it. The machine whirred and beeped before a warm, white glow emanated from it. In an instant, the light vanished leaving two confused, but very well-rested people.

"Mm!" Jeanne stretched out her arms, "I feel as if I have just had the best sleep I've had in three years!" Arthur felt that way too. Weird. But he didn't dwell on it before he spoke up,

"Jeanne? The Plateau?"

"Right, right!" The blonde woman nodded before they went off in the same direction the dog ear-hats went.

* * *

><p>They had just gotten outside when the sound of eerie music filled the air, signaling that the strange dog-collar shaped thing was making its escape. "A flying…" Jeanne whispered in sheer disbelief, "Music-box?" After the strange machine had gone, there was no reason to stay in that area.<p>

"Let's go Jeanne!" Arthur snapped out, urging the woman forward.

They had run for a few minutes before Jeanne stopped again, and by now Arthur was getting sick of the hesitations. "Jeanne, I swear to God, if you're going to spout more nonsense about Magypsies or cooking or favorite colors, I will honestly –"

"We are here." When she spoke, Arthur looked around. The land had transformed from rocky mountain terrain to a smooth plain with a few trees here and there. "Serpa Plateau… The home of the Serpas."

The two adults walked about the barren stretch of land, keeping a close eye out for anything that looked like blonde hair. They were walking in relative silence; Arthur wanted to make sure that if Alfred was around he could hear him, until a powerful shriek pierced through the air. Like the wind, a large bald eagle was making its way towards the two with murderous intent filling every flap of its mighty wings…

In a blur, the eagle was smacked back towards wherever it came from via her trusty broom-stick. "When in doubt, use whatever is available to you…" After that, Jeanne squinted her eyes to better look into the distance. "Could that be? It is!" She tried whistling over as she saw a sea-foam baby serpa sniffing and gnawing at something. "Where are your parents little one?" At the call, the serpa stopped its actions before it growled and scampered away. "Oh well."

"Why were you talking to it like it could understand you?" Arthur hissed, just thinking about serpas was getting him unsteady. "They're just monsters and – What is that?" Arthur rushed over to where the baby serpa had just been and immediately sunk to his knees. Jeanne walked over as quickly as possible and asked,

"What is it? Arthur, answer me…" She looked down and gasped as she saw it.

It was one of Alfred's shoes.

"No. No, no, no, no!" Arthur was shaking his head, rocking back and forth as he tried not to think about what this could mean. "Not Alfred… You bastards took Francis away from me," He reached towards his side and withdrew the serpa fang sword, "I will _not_ allow you to take Alfred too!"

It was at that yell when Jeanne remembered that there was something about this area that warranted calm and quiet. There was a rustle, then a bustle… Finally, the few trees that were littering the area slowly began to limp and waddle over to the two.

"Arthur!" Jeanne immediately tried to pull at Arthur's arm to get him to stand, "We need to move now, please! Those woodos aren't the nicest creatures in the world and we need to move before they get any closer!" Arthur finally got to his feet, clutching the small shoe close to him as they rushed away from the slowly approaching trees.

The woodos were moving before they shivered and burst into flames. It was a domino-effect, one engulfing into flame after the other. Arthur quickly pulled Jeanne behind a large rock and waited for all the explosions to subside. It was a good few minutes before the noise finally stopped. Jeanne took a peek from behind the rock and, after surveying the now-quiet area, she sighed,

"The coast is clear."

* * *

><p>"Alfred!" Arthur called out as he looked around the plateau. "Alfred, come out this instant! Do you hear me? You are going to get the whipping of your life if you don't come out right now! Alfred!"<p>

"Mon Dieu, where could this child be?" Jeanne whispered, getting a little frightened about the boy's whereabouts. Three hours had gone by since they arrived at the Plateau, but there was still no sign of the hyper little boy. "Alfred, your father is just worried, oui? We are here to rescue you and take you home! Where are you petite lapin? Alfred!" The plateau was silent, but in that silence, Jeanne had a thought. "Where have all the serpas gone?"

The ground shook, knocking Jeanne to the floor. "Jeanne!" Arthur tried to rush over, but the ground quaked again causing his steps to become shaky and off kilter. The ground kept shaking randomly before Arthur finally made it over to help Jeanne. She was about to say that she was fine when she looked up.

Her eyes went wide in horror as she screamed at what she saw; causing Arthur to finally turn around and see what was causing all the disturbance.

Whatever it was, it looked like it had once been a fully-grown serpa. But now its tail and one of its legs had been replaced by spiked, steel replacements. The same treatment had been given to one of its arm/wings and its head had been forced into some sort of strange metal helmet. One of its eyes had been replaced by cold, red glass, but the other was portraying how much of a pain-induced frenzy it was in. With every move, the metal attachments cut against the animal's remaining natural flesh; blood and bits of skin falling to the ground.

"What…" Jeanne's voice was almost nonexistent as she asked, "What is that? I have never seen a serpa… _Anything_ that looked so awful!" The monster trembled before it opened its mouth, letting out an enormous roar.

At that moment, time stopped for Arthur. His emerald eyes keyed in on one detail of this scene: this _thing_ was missing a fang. A fang that, judging from its counter-part on the opposite side of his mouth, was about the same size as the fang that made up his sword.

The blonde man felt something rise from within him… It burned as it filled his entire being until he called out, "IT WAS YOU! You took my love, the one reason I had for living, away from me!" The mechanized-serpa only roared back in response, a type of pipe visible in its throat. "And now you want to take my son away from me as well? Over both of our cold, lifeless bodies you horrendous monster!" The serpa charged at the two humans, its claws extending for its attack. But Arthur managed to shove Jeanne away before he slid underneath the monster and forced the serpa-fang sword into its flesh; rending a huge slash from its chest to its abdomen.

The mechanized-serpa roared and hissed in pain before it rushed towards Arthur with its claws. "Damn!" The blonde male cried out as one of the creatures claws ripped into his shoulder and upper arm.

"Arthur!" Jeanne yelled upon the sight of the man's blood. The noise made the mecha-serpa roar as it changed course, rushing towards Jeanne. Arthur clenched his teeth together at the thought of being ignored. This _was_ what he had been waiting for; to get revenge on his beloved's murderer once and for all. He reached into his satchel and retrieved both a thunder ball and a sprinting ball before he threw them both towards the mecha-serpa. The thunder ball burst on impact, but the sprinting ball moved straight for the creature's legs and exploded there. The attacks caused the mecha-serpa to turn its head from Jeanne and look at the man, who screamed,

"Get back here and fight me, damn you!" Sure enough, the mecha-serpa rushed back and opened its mouth wide before a rush of flames burst forth, filling the area and managing to scorch Arthur's arms before he dodged away.

The serpa growled, moving of its feet to stomp down on Arthur's frame before the blonde held his sword up; the material stabbing through the monster's foot. "Feel that?" Arthur seethed out, "That's _NOTHING_ compared to what Francis went through at your hand!" The serpa jumped back, limping a bit due to the pain.

"I'll finish this off with one blow…" Arthur panted, taking out the rest of the thunder and sprinting balls that Sadiq had given him. "Die… Die… DIE!" With that cry, he threw everything he had at the mecha-serpa in one bright, explosive blow. The sight was akin to a flurry of shooting stars, the only noise in the area were the screams and growls of the mecha-serpa before it fell to the ground; steaming and smoking from the explosives.

Jeanne was still shell-shocked from the ordeal, and the way Arthur had seemed so manic in getting his so-called revenge. She snapped out of it when she saw Arthur, not even considering his own injury, brandish his sword and stalk towards the creature's twitching body.

"Do you sense it?" Arthur began, smiling as he walked, "That's the sound of your demise. That's the echo of your death-bell crying." The mecha-serpa tried to move away but only managed to slip in its own blood and fall back onto its stomach.

Out of the nearby bushes, a form jumped out causing Arthur to stop his movements. "Alfred?" The figure jumped in front of the mecha-serpa, turning out to be the baby serpa from earlier. It was at that moment that Jeanne recognized the two creatures in front of her.

"Oh no… It's you two…" The mother and baby serpa that her nephews had come to see those three years ago. "What happened to us? Why did you kill…" Arthur was about to charge forward with his sword, so Jeanne was cut off from her thoughts. "Arthur, stop!" She screamed, trying to hold the man back.

"Let go of me! JEANNE, LET GO!" The two fought for a bit before Arthur shoved Jeanne to the ground and walked closer to the mechanized serpa and the baby serpa that was trying to get it to stand up.

"This is for Francis…" Arthur whispered as he raised the sword up over his head, took a deep breath and swung down –

"THIS WON'T SOLVE ANYTHING! You're just going to put that baby through what Alfred and Matthieu are going through! Why are you going to take that child's mother away? Arthur, please stop!" Arthur was still. He hadn't moved back, or forward. He was simply very… still. The fire was still in his grass-green eyes and his heart still wanted to deal the finishing blow.

Arthur took a step forward but, with a growl, the baby serpa jumped forward and tackled the blonde away. "What the hell?" Arthur whispered out, his body still sore from the burns from earlier. The baby serpa was standing in front of its mother, stretching out its arm/wings in an attempt to scare the two humans off. It growled out again as it took its own step backwards, trying to see if its mother was okay. The mechanized-serpa, with her living eye, looked at the scene… at her child… and tears began to fall from its one good eye.

Jeanne walked over to Arthur and whispered, "I am _so_ sorry Arthur…" Arthur merely shook his head before he looked to the sky and even let out an emotionless chuckle.

"You wanted them so bad, didn't you? You could have had anyone, _anything_, but you had to take them! No…" He shook his head as he stood on his shaky feet, "You aren't taking Alfred. I don't care how powerful you think you are, but for God, you're doing an asinine job! Burn in hell for all I care, you and those who still believe in you!"

"Arthur!" Jeanne gasped, horrified at Arthur's words. But he walked off, calling out Alfred's name in a desperate attempt to keep up the search.


	12. Arthur End

_It is possible that until now, the people of Mirror Falls had never known tragedy. On sunny days and on cloudy days, they always greeted each other with smiles. _

_They lived in harmony with the creatures of the forest. The strong would help the weak, and those who had would share with those who had not._

_But now, it appears that the villagers have learned all too much about tragedy. Suddenly, everything is changing for the worse… _

_When did this change begin? _

_Where? _

_What set it into motion? And why?_

_As if toys for a twisted child, the peaceful animals are being transformed into strange, ferocious creatures that attack people. _

The animals of Sol Forest could be seen running for their lives from the dog-ear hats that were corralling them into steel cages that were easier to transport before they took them away.

_Some people, such as Arthur, have even had their families torn apart. _

Arthur walked into Mirror Falls, clothes stained with blood and dirt. He didn't even acknowledge the stares that everyone gave him. He merely wanted to get home and rest so that he could begin his search anew the next day.

_Just what is this suspicious group that wears the hats with dog-ears?_

_What are these strange objects that soar through the once beautiful skies? _

_And where… Where could the missing Alfred be?_

Matthew was at the farmhouse, still silently crying from his father's earlier outburst. Kumajirou was sleeping next to him and only twitched his ears when he sensed someone coming up to the compound.

"What?" Matthew asked before he looked up and saw Arthur walking up. "Papa. Where's Alfred?" Arthur ignored him, opening the door and slamming it as he walked inside. "Hey, wait." Matthew whimpered as he walked to the door and tried to open it, but he found it locked. "Papa! Please, open the door!" The small blonde tried to get his father's attention for thirty minutes before it started raining again. "Papa…" Matthew soon realized that he wasn't about to be let in anytime soon, but he had to find _somewhere _to sleep.

The rain was frigid as it cascaded down to earth, making Matthew shiver with every step he took. He looked around, trying to find a shelter when he noticed the dog-house. "Kuma…" He whispered, "Can I come in?" The polar bear slowly opened his eyes before he yawned and pressed himself further inside, allowing a small amount of room for the boy to squeeze into. "Thank you…" He whispered, nuzzling into the warm, pale fur.

_The mysteries continue to pile up, and so our tale first ends… _

…_As a tragedy._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I still feel as though I'm making Arthur too emotional. But no one's said otherwise, so meh. **

**So we have lost Francis **_**and**_** Alfred in one part? Oh my God, I feel so evil! But, I am keeping in touch with the original story so… Yeah. **

**This is also the end of the ****Arthur****-saga, so the next update we'll be going into someone else's point of view. Please review! Please~!**

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	13. Heracles Part 1

**A/N: Hey guys! So now we start another saga in the form of Heracles's point of view! Let's see what's going on… **

**Disclaimer- I own nothing… Except my ideas!**

* * *

><p><em>Just what is it I am to you?<em>

_Son, lover, or slave?_

_Can I please know?_

* * *

><p><em>"Arthur…" Heracles called out to Arthur as the blonde was leaving Mirror Falls. "I'm not sure what to say… What happened to Francis is the meaning of the word tragedy. He shook his head, "I haven't felt this sad since I lost my own mother, so I can tell what the boys are going through…" Arthur was silent, giving Heracles the leeway to move on, "Matthew has been crying at her grave non-stop. It's like his heart has broken in two…" Arthur turned to leave and Heracles managed to add, "If there's anything I can do, just let me…" Abruptly, the young teen's sleeping sickness kicked in, dipping him into the darkness.<em>

Now, going back to the present day, we can see the merchant Sadiq's house in the distance. If we go inside, we would first here the sounds and exertions of a fight going on.

Heracles was shielding his face with his arms, trying to avoid Sadiq's blows; his face already sporting one hell of a bruise. "Quit blocking me!" Sadiq yelled out, using his cane and swinging it at Heracles's unguarded stomach.

The young teen cried out when the wood and metal struck his already sore body, sending him to the wooden floor. He lay there, whimpering and crying a little from the pain as Sadiq walked towards him. He flinched when he saw the cane fall towards him but Sadiq didn't hit him. He simply huffed,

"Get yourself up.", allowing the young brunette to grab onto the head of the cane for balance. However, when he had gotten to his feet, Sadiq commanded,

"Go get yourself cleaned up and then get started on dinner." And with that, the tall brunette left the main room, leaving an irritated teen to be comforted by his feline friends.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, dinner had almost been finished off; everyone in the house eating in relative silence. Sadiq looked up, only moving his eyes to keep the illusion of eating, and looked at the teen on the other side of the table. <em>'Huh,'<em> He thought, _'I wonder…'_

Abruptly, he picked up the knife that was resting besides his plate and flung it towards Heracles. The young one managed to stop it in both of his hands just as it was a few seconds away from his face. Sadiq chuckled,

"Thought so…", before he stood up from the table and walked towards the sitting room of the house. "After you finish the dishes, come over here; I have something to tell you."

Heracles hurried to finish what was left of his food and merely rinsed the dishes, leaving them in the sink, before he followed his benefactor. At first, Sadiq was quiet as he looked at the burning fireplace. Then,

"Hey Heracles…" He slowly stood up, "I ain't speaking to ya as my son or ward, but as my student." Good, he still had the boy's attention, "Listen up. The time has come."

"The time for what?", Heracles asked, just to be whacked on the head,

"Stop yappin' and I'll tell ya!" The taller brunette calmed himself before adding, "I had hoped that this time _wouldn't_ come, but it seems as though God hasn't been listening to us humans that much lately…"

The fear that had come about due to Francis's death didn't need to be mentioned.

"But luckily we have been preparing just in case it did…" Sadiq looked over and saw Heracles asleep in a circle of their cats. "Grr…" Sadiq stormed over to the teen and cuffed him in the back of the head, snapping, "Wake up ya lazy bastard!"

"You're rambling again," Heracles groaned as he rubbed at the bruise, "Just get to the point…"

"Fine. You're finally going to have a chance to try out what I've taught ya!" Sadiq smirked, "We still don't know the form of these foreign devils, but we have to adapt in order to save ourselves!"

"Foreign devils?" Heracles blinked, receiving a nod from Sadiq,

"Yeah… Those dog-ear hat wearing freaks that you told me about…" The man by the fireplace let out a heavy sigh before he continued, "Maybe we would have been born in a different age… I mean, I've been training ya in these ancient arts ever since your mom passed but there's hardly any use for 'em."

Now Heracles wouldn't say there wasn't _any_ use for the skills that Sadiq had trained him in. Honestly, being able to make ladders to scale walls was quite useful at times…

"The way I've raised ya is only what I thought would be good for you. If you wanna grudge, then grudge away." Just as the teenager was about to raise his hand to say something, Sadiq called out, "Heracles! This is no test or game; it's an order!"

"You seem pretty serious, old man." Sadiq was almost never this urgent about something, nut the next five words settled the matter:

"I'm giving you a mission."

Heracles gasped before he sat straight up, replying,

"I'm listening."

"You will sneak into Gold Feather Castle, the castle that overlooks Mirror Falls from beyond the Graveyard. Inside is an important item that you need to bring back here immediately!", Sadiq explained. But Heracles was still somewhat confused.

"And this item is..?" Sadiq only laughed again,

"Heh. Your thief skills should lead in the right direction, if you've been paying attention in the least."

"Could I maybe have a hint?" Heracles _really_ didn't want to go on a mission blind, after all. Sadiq, on the other hand, was losing fate in his pupil/son/lover.

"Fine." He sighed, "It's very important, like I said. It's delicate and… shiny, yeah." The younger brunette raised a delicate eyebrow,

"That's it?"

"Shut up! I didn't even have to give you that!" And there went another hit to the head. Sadiq quickly composed himself before he added, "There's a pack of items in the basement that'll help you on your mission. You should get them when you're ready to leave! But for now," He yawned, "It's time for bed."

So Heracles wasted no time in rushing upstairs to take a bath, afterwards dressing in one of Sadiq's old shirts before he made himself comfortable in the older man's bed. Eventually, Sadiq walked in and, after removing his shirt, plopped down into the mattress. For a moment, Heracles was quiet; he had gotten use to sleeping like this a long time ago. But every time before he went to sleep, he always spoke, "I don't understand why I can't have my own bed."

"Too much work…" Sadiq would grumble back, "And you wouldn't help me either way."

And thus, the matter would be squashed and Heracles would close his eyes in preparation for sleep. _'Three… Two…'_ He thought.

Just then, Heracles found himself wrapped up in the strong arms of the man besides him. When this first happened, Heracles almost kicked the man right in his vital regions. But he soon adjusted. That's all you can do in this world; adjust.

He slowly began drifting off into his familiar dreamland…

* * *

><p>It was around midnight when Heracles could be seen rummaging through the special thief's pack that Sadiq had prepared for him. He slowly called each item out as he looked at them,<p>

"A pendulum… a feather-duster… dementia-dust… smoke bombs… and the siren whistle…"

"To put enemies to sleep, lower their defenses, and even make them flee." Sadiq explained in the form of a yawn. He looked at Heracles, the teen now dressed in muted greens blacks and browns, and when the younger had set everything back into the bag, he stated,

"Hidden inside that castle is an item with the power to change the fate of the entire world… Back when the King still lived in that castle, I think that's when it was anyway, I hid this item inside so that no one would ever get their hands on it." He shook his head, "It was too much for even the King to handle, I think so anyway; my memory's getting fuzzy anytime I think of it." Heracles reached into his pocket, retrieving a black scarf. Just before he tied it around his mouth, he asked,

"Then why should I go messing around with things, if this item is so powerful?"

"This unknown enemy might be trying to get their hands on it. So I need to get it back before they do. Normally, with your sleeping sickness I would go, but…" Sadiq frowned before he walked over to the teenager and knelt down on one knee to better face him, "Heracles, you're younger than me, more flexible… Along with everything that I've taught ya, you should be able to do this."

"Understood." Heracles nodded as he tied the scarf around his face and mouth.

"Good." And with that, Sadiq gave him a slight kiss on the forehead that would soon be denied, "Now get out of here and find that treasure!" Heracles nodded and waited for four of his cats to come along with him. He sighed before he pulled a smoke bomb out of the pack and threw it to the floor, smoke billowing out into the home along with curses from Sadiq.

* * *

><p>When it came to Mirror Falls, at least before Francis's death, people had no qualms about going out at night. Most people, unless you were Heracles, Sadiq, their cats, or the Kirklands and their close ones, hardly ever did though.<p>

If you were outside in the quiet village right now, however, and you looked up, you would see a blur followed by smaller blurs rushing across the rooftops and slinking behind buildings. Heracles had been trained for speed and stealth, and he was making full-use of those two things as he ran around the village; his cats dutifully following his every step.

He jumped down from the last roof before the edge of town and peeked from behind the corner of the building. "The coast is clear." He nodded to himself before he tried to sprint forward –

"AH!" The teenager was bumped back as he was knocked into a sturdy mass. He groaned, rubbing his head before he could open his eyes; a gloved hand being offered to him. There stood a strange man dressed in heavy winter clothing, his cream-colored hair and violet eyes helping him to keep a kind demeanor, "Oh, my apologies. I'm in such a hurry that I wasn't paying attention." Heracles took the offered hand and recovered himself,

"No problem." The strange man smiled before he gave a slight bow in apology before calling out,

"Come along." At first, Heracles thought that the strange man was talking to him before he saw something even stranger hesitantly walking towards the man. It was a small and skinny creature; it's skin was grey and it had wide, red, almond shaped eyes that seemed to plea to Heracles. The cream-haired man clenched his hand into a fist, his eyes shifting to red as he gritted out, "I said, _come along_."

The strange creature flinched before it rushed over to the man's side, the both of them leaving towards the inn.

"Weird…" The teen commented, his cats mewling in agreement before he walked forward and barely dodged bumping into a somewhat familiar face. "Vash?"

"Ah, Heracles! What do you want?" The blonde whipped around, trying with extra effort to hide something behind him.

"Are you… Okay?" Heracles had to ask. Vash bit his lip, before he sighed and whispered, "I'll let you in on an amazing secret!" Heracles nodded and Vash grabbed what was behind him, a large bag, and opened it; revealing hundreds upon hundreds of small, golden discs. Heracles only blinked in confusion, but Vash's smile couldn't have been any wider as he asked in awe, "Look at them all; aren't they beautiful..?"

"What is it?", Heracles asked, just for Vash to laugh,

"Money! It's something new and strange and beautiful called 'money'!" Heracles was… still confused.

"But what _is_ money?" Vash almost laughed again, but he blinked and replied,

"You know, I'm not really sure… I mean, it _is_ something new to Mirror Falls." The blonde sighed before he explained in joy, "The strange wanderer in the winter clothes gave it all to me in exchange for my dogs!"

"Just like that?" Heracles question, gently tugging one of his cats back as it tried to get a closer look at the 'money'. Vash nodded,

"He took a strong liking to them, for some reason, and begged me to trade them for this. He also said something about an 'era of money' about to start." He dug his hand into the bag and brought them up again, letting the coins jingle and chime as they fell through his fingers, "A strange man, but _really_ friendly. But anyway, he gave it to me, so that must mean that it's mine." Vash tied the bag back up and hefted it towards the center of the town where the local well rested.

"Hopefully no ignorant mind will try and take it if I hide it in this well." He whispered as he set the bag down and covered it with the grass and leaves that grew near the well. "Well, I have to get back home to Lili. Don't tell anyone about my secret, right Heracles?"

"Right…" Heracles shrugged his shoulders, not sure what to think of 'money'. But he remembered his mission and, after a few short breaths, he began sprinting again.

* * *

><p>The strange wanderer walked into the inn and asked the first person he saw, "Ah, yes. May I have a word with this owner of this business?" They nodded and pointed towards Chineme, who was busy cleaning the counters of the bar. He walked over, the woman looking up and smiling,<p>

"Hey there! So how do your day and how can I help you?"

"Hello, my name is Ivan. And this is Tony." He said, briefly acknowledging the strange grey creature as he reached forward and shook Chineme's hand, the woman returning the greeting before he continued, "I was looking for a place for me and my—" Ivan looked down and saw Tony trying to sneak way. He secretly reached into his pocket before the alien seized up in shock and pain before he limped back to Ivan's side. "Friend to stay for the night."

"Sure thing! Just let me know when you're ready and I'll show you to one of my finest rooms!" Chineme smiled. Ivan chuckled before he returned the gesture, asking,

"Thank you. How much will I be owing you?" Chineme blinked,

"Owing?"

"Yes, how much to stay here –" Just then Ivan sighed before he remembered, "Never mind, I've had a long day of working."

"I know the feeling, oh." Chineme offered while she fixed the strange man something to drink, "I practically run this inn by myself, especially when my husband stays out all night drinking."

"My… Such a hard-working woman…" Ivan smiled before digging into his pockets for a handful of golden discs before he tossed them to the counter.

As soon as the coins clinked to the counter, however, something _strange_ happened. Chineme's eyes went wide at the golden pieces. She had never… seen something like this in her years of running her inn.

"Pretty…" She whispered in awe as Ivan pushed them towards her.

"For your trouble," Ivan explained and watched in silent glee as Chineme rushed to pick the coins up and place them into her pocket for safe keeping. "Could I bother you for something to drink?"

"Not at all, oh!" Chineme quickly poured the man a glass of alcohol and offering it to him. Ivan took a sip, deciding he could deal with the taste for the time being before he called out,

"Friends! Comrades!" Everyone who was in the main room looked to him before he announced, "Come here, all of you! I have reason to be celebrating and I will be paying for all of your drinks!" He reached into his coat and took out a large satchel of money, like the one he had given to Vash, and set it on the table.

Most of the people didn't get what he meant by 'paying', but when they saw Chineme bringing out more and more bottles of alcohol, they all rushed over in excitement. Ivan looked around and saw a young man dressed in blue cleaning his glasses as he sat at the grand piano in the room. He walked over and dropped a few coins in front of him before asking, "Could we have music please?"

Roderich looked at the golden discs, with their strange dog-paw engravings, immediately transfixed with them, before he slipped on his glasses and placed his fingers to the keys of the instrument, lively music filling the air. "Wonderful!" The violet-eyed man laughed before he turned towards Tony, the slim creature cringing as Ivan commanded,

"Dance. Now." The strange creature shivered before it seemed to sigh and begin to perform a funny dance that soon got everyone in the room laughing.

Ivan was laughing too. Not externally, and not at Tony. He kept his secret mirth hidden as he picked up his glass,

"Here's to a new and better life." Ivan said as he downed the drink, not before muttering six key words:

"Long live the great Dog King…" and going to ask Chineme to dance.

* * *

><p>Heracles stopped his sprinting when he saw Gold Feather Castle in the distance. But it wasn't the castle's imposing presence that made him stop. There was something that looked like a giant, oblong-shaped balloon passing over the castle in the darkened skies. That strange, eerie music was playing full-blast from it as it dropped a series of containers towards the castle grounds.<p>

"What are they?" The brunette asked, the only response that received being a chorus of frightened mewls from the cats that surrounded him.

He kept running, barely sparing a moment to return the 'hello' that Tino sent his way while he was trying to calm Berwald down as the stern blonde looked into the distance.

* * *

><p>Finally, he made it to the Sunset Cemetery, the barrier between Mirror Falls and Gold Feather Castle. It was a much different place at night, the only sounds being hooting owls and rustling from the ground.<p>

"Wait a minute," Heracles asked himself as he tried to get a good line of sight in this dark area. "Rustling ground?" The cats were all hissing and mewling as they huddled up towards Heracles and tried a simple defense measure. But it was worth nothing when a decaying hand shot up from the earth, Heracles and his cats jumping two feet in the air from shock alone. The hand found purchase on the dirt before it pulled up a decaying body that seemed to have once been human.

"_Gragh..! Heracles… How can I be…"_ The rotting creature lost a patch of skin before it added, _"Alive..?"_

"Do I," Heracles gulped, "Know you?" Just then a rotting woman crawled forth from the ground, asking,

"_Didn't I… Die?"_, as she was followed by the moving corpse of a dog.

Heracles could only get into a defensive stance as more and more zombies dug themselves out of the ground and limped towards him…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**Okay, so remember how I explained that Mirror Falls **_**didn't**_** have currency? Well, scientists have studied that if you introduce a foreign substance to a stable environment, it will go straight to crap in an instant. **

**So what is the strange wanderer Ivan trying to do, introducing this 'money' to the citizens of Mirror Falls? **

**And will Heracles's thief skills be able to protect him against the zombies (that I did not add to be funny, in Mother 3's story-line for Duster, you first have to fight zombies)? Stay tuned, and don't forget to review!**

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	14. Heracles Part 2

**A/N: **

**TG- I am not amused at the lack of feedback for the last chapter… JK, I guess. I think I know the reason for that though. I bet the people who usually review (thanks to Lydiacatfish) liked the story for the main family (Arthur, Francis- RIP, Alfred- MIA, and Matthew). But ****Mother 3**** is famous for the other story lines that help make the main story-line make sense (hence why we're following Heracles right now). But for those of you who don't like that, well I have good news and bad news.**

**The good- The majority of this fic will follow the main family's story. **

**The bad- We won't get there until the saga after the Heracles saga (but don't worry, the saga after this I **_**hated**_** in the actual game, so it will be very short. The only reason it's in here is because it has one of the most important conflicts in the plot). **

**Okay? Is that okay? If anyone has questions or thoughts you can drop a review (I allow anonymous reviews, even though it has proved to be a double-edged sword sometimes…) **

**One more thing: I was looking through my notes for this fic and I had the epiphany that even though this fic is based on a game, I don't have to include **_**everything**_** from the game! So hopefully things will go quicker from now on. Okay, rambling over. Let's get to the story. **

* * *

><p>One of the zombies lurched forward, its drooling jaw nearly hanging from its skull as it rushed forwards towards Heracles. The teenager quickly brought out his hammer, the one he would use for his wall-staples and cracked it against the undead beast's skull.<p>

The zombie groaned as he fell to the ground, crumbling into dust. A zombified woman rushed behind him, just to get a firm kick to the face that actually knocked her head off before she crumbled away.

Heracles looked to the ground a few feet away from him and saw his cats trying their best to subdue the undead dog who was struggling to get the brunette. As more and more zombies dug themselves out of the ground, Heracles quickly looked around for a means of escape…

And found a square, brick-hewn hole in the ground. It was covered by an iron grate, but Heracles had no time for such small barriers. He gave a short whistle, his cats jumping back to his side before he tossed a smoke bomb to the ground. The zombies groaned and coughed at the thick white smoke billowing into the air. But when it cleared, Heracles and the others were nowhere to be found.

* * *

><p>The hole in the ground had turned out to be the entrance to a hidden path. The subterranean way was dark, with moisture collected in some areas from the ceilings that dripped with water; giving the whole place a mildewing odor.<p>

But Heracles wasn't focused on that. He was too busy sprinting through the path while trying to avoid the leaches that would jump from the floors and walls to try and feed from him or his cats. Some of his other cats were too busy fighting the strange lobsters that dwelled in these halls.

"Come on," he called back, "There's no time for that!" Sadly, the cats mewled before rushing after their master.

After a good chunk of time spent wandering around in the dark, Heracles climbed out of a new brick-hewn hole; this one leading to a large courtyard. The plants in this space were beautiful, even though half of them were dyign off, but Heracles noted two things at the same time:

First of all, he had managed to make it to Gold Feather Castle.

Secondly, the castle gates were locked up. Shut tight so that no one could enter.

"Damn it…" He whispered as he helped the last of the cats get out of the hole before he moved around, trying to get a good survey of the castle. It was a grand building. You could tell that it had seen the weather and abuse of time, some of the bricks crumbling away, but it still had a regal, _special_ air about it.

Moving a bit closer, Heracles took a good look at the wall, making sure that the surface was soft enough before he reached into his pockets and pulling out his hammer and wall-staples. Placing a staple on the surface, he quickly hammered it in and made sure that it was steady before he stepped onto it and began to repeat the step until he reached a darkened window. "Okay then." He whispered, as he slinked in; pressing his body up against the walls and stepping slowly, daintily as one of his cats who were following behind him.

* * *

><p>Gold Feather Castle's interior had the same aged, royalty of the exterior. Lush carpeting covered the floor, though the stains and dust took away from the luxury. The walls had been painted with reds, yellows, and whites; black designs depicting birds of prey soaring across them.<p>

As Heracles moved, he passed a matured painting of a man with long, blonde hair; some of it tied in a braid to the side of his face. His striking blue eyes and full-suit of silver armor made for an intimidating image.

One of the cats sniffed the air before mewling to Heracles before it bolted down a new path, the others following it. As they went down this new direction, they passed another painting. This one depicted a man with short, curly, dark brown hair. His golden-brown eyes held a joy to them that was only added to by his confident smile that rested just above the stubble of his chin; his suit of armor was of a bright gold, giving him an imperial air.

The cat finally stopped when it reached a large statue. Heracles saw that it was a figure holding onto a giant heavy ball of iron. He wanted to get closer, his inner-thief wondering just what the statue was made out of when he tripped over a fold in the fabric; smacking against the base of the statue which caused the iron ball to dislodge from its spot and crash through the floor, a gaping hole leading down into the darkness now visible.

"Well, let's see what's down there." Heracles told his friends as he prepared his hammer and staples to slowly create a ladder as he moved further and further down into the deep.

The hole lead to a luxurious bathing room, the gold-gilded hot water baths still running and filling the room with a relaxing air. Before he could be tempted to stay, the brunette teen found a door that lead to the main hall of the castle.

* * *

><p>He slowly walked down the halls, searching every so often for this supposed 'treasure'. He did stop in his tracks when he saw something that made him halt his progression.<p>

Two… beings floated by. They were pale as sheets and see-through as they seemed to be fretting about something.

"How will we get it back?" One of the ghosts whined, "We can carry the eclairs by themselves, but they're stuck in that box!"

"This is bad," The other ghost groaned, "I'm so hungry…" Abruptly, they looked towards Heracles. The teen blinked at the ghosts, the ghosts blinked at him. Then. "You! Boy!"

"…" Heracles pointed to himself.

"Yes you! Can you help us? We'll make it worth your while!" The spirits began again. Heracles had to think for a minute. After dealing with those zombies, he really didn't want to deal with any undead creatures… But they _could_ probably lead him to the treasure he was looking for…

"Alright."

"Excellent! Now, please, follow us!" The ghosts laughed as they floated down the hall.

* * *

><p>"What are these anyway?" Heracles groaned as he was carrying a heavy wooden box. He took a sniff and immediately regretted it as a foul scent filled his nostrils.<p>

"Rotten eclairs!" One ghost chimed, "They're the best!"

"If you two say so…" Heracles whispered as he helped the two ghosts carry the box to a room where another ghost was sitting beside a carpet that had a series of items on it.

"You can just leave it here! Thank you so much!" The ghost chimed as Heracles sat the box down to the blanket. "You have to be rewarded for your work!" Heracles had to frown,

"It's not an éclair is it?"

"Heaven's no!" The ghost at the carpet laughed, "But you _can_ have your pick of any of the items here! Go on, choose one!" Heracles looked around at the items which included various herbs and artifacts, but none of them caught his fancy as to being a treasure… But he heard his cats mewling as they examined one item in particular. Upon seeing it, he smiled,

"I'll take that one."

* * *

><p>"Nothing." Heracles whispered as he rummaged through a chest.<p>

"Nothing again." He huffed, shutting a closet door.

"Damn it…" He sighed as he walked down a hall, not seeing anything that _screamed_ treasure to him. He would have fallen into a vicious pitfall if one of his cats didn't yowl and snap him out of his thoughts. "And now we have a dead-end…" He hissed as he looked around for a way across the trench dividing the hall, only finding a hook in the wall that held a candle. "But not for long."

Heracles reached into his satchel, bringing out the item that he had accepted from those strange ghosts. With sleek, braided leather held together with an ebony handle that had a cat's head carved into the end, emerald eyes embedded into it, Heracles's new cat-whip was about to get its first test-run.

A soft mewing announced that all his cats had latched onto him before he snapped the whip back and then forward before it latched onto the hook. "Here goes nothing!" He cried before swinging over the trench, allowing his feet to touch the other side before he shifted his weight for a landing. "Is everyone alright?" He asked, his cats mewling back in a positive tone. He sighed as he walked to the first door he could see. "Alright then, Let's see what's behind door number one."

The door led to a simple room decorated by only a weird picture on the back wall. Heracles inspected the image, an abstract collection of colors and shapes,

"A painting?"

Just then, the painting lifted up from the wall and rushed towards the teenager. The brunette smacked it away with his hammer (cat-like reflexes are so wonderful) and sighed, "Not the treasure I'm looking for."

* * *

><p>"I'm beginning to think," Heracles whispered to one of the cats who had taken refuge on his shoulders, "That this was just a huge waste of time wrapped up in a scavenger hunt." Heracles was walking up a flight of stairs that had seen much better days, some of them were even crumbling away. "I just want to go back home…" He sighed before he took another step-<p>

Out of nowhere, a figure fell from the ceiling. He had short, messy white hair and gleaming red eyes. He was around the same age, maybe a few years older than Heracles, and he wore a white cloak that ruffled behind him as he rushed into the next hall; unknowingly dropping something in his haste. After the strange teen left, Heracles walked to where he landed and picked up what the other had dropped: a expertly crafted cross of the purest silver.

"Pretty…" Heracles whispered as he looked at the silver cross before pocketing it. "Wait a minute! He probably knows where this 'treasure' is. Come back!" But the albino kept on running until he vanished behind one of the many doors that this new hallway had. "Damn it… Which one should I take?"

So many choices, so many choices… Heracles chose the fourth door on the right, hoping to get somewhere fast…

"Ah!" Heracles yelled out as the door reached forth a dark hand to grab him. The cats immediately went on the attack: jumping and clawing at the strange arm until it groaned and tossed Heracles away, slamming the doors shut as the teen landed in the room across the way. "I hate this castle… _So_ very much…" He hissed before he stood on his shaky feet, dusting himself off before he got a sense of his surroundings…

And the flying furniture…

And the ghostly music conductor in the center of all the chaos…

"Wait, what?" Heracles shook his head, blinking for a moment before he looked at the room. Indeed, all the furniture (and a mouse) was floating in a chaotic pattern in the air. Heracles looked around and saw that there was a door in the back of this room –

His thief senses picked up and he knew that whatever he was looking for… was behind that door. He walked up to the ghost and asked, "Excuse me, could I get through here? I know that you're probably… busy here, but if I could get through I promise to leave you to your business, Mr…" The ghost turned it's head around a full 360 degrees before it looked at Heracles with cold, dark eyes.

"I am known as Mr. Passion! Behold my latest masterpiece: 'Family Matters, 2nd Movement." The spirit began to swing his conductor's baton around, all the items moving around in a flurry before a chair was flung in the Heracles's direction. The teen flipped out of the way, only receiving a splinter in his arm from the debris.

"Listen, I don't want to fight you," Heracles tried to explain, just for a rush of wind to pin him to the floor, "Okay… Fine, I tried to get out of this peacefully, but…" He struggled to reach inside his satchel for a smoke bomb and rolled it towards Mr. Passion, the item exploding into a plume of gray smoke.

"My eyes! My majestic eyes!" The spirit groaned, the attack lessening to the point that Heracles could stand again before he brought out the siren whistle, blowing into it to create a noise that made Mr. Passion screech and try to force another piece of furniture towards him.

"So you hate noises and distractions huh?" Heracles noted, thanking whatever forces that be that he was able to find a way to get rid of the ghost (you can't exactly hit a ghost, now can you?). The whistle was blown again before the ghost could take no more; he screeched and howled, sending item after item to crash into Heracles until, finally, he had nothing but the mouse floating in the air. "Someone's out of things to throw…"

"Take this!" Mr. Passion called out before he sent a mouse flying in Heracles's direction, just for one of Heracles's cats to jump up and grab it for a quick snack. "How dare you!"

"I think that you should go back to sleep, old man." Heracles muttered before he blew into the siren whistle one more time, the sound causing a painful shriek from Mr. Passion before the ghost fell to the ground, slowly fading away into nothingness.

When the room was still once more, the cats all seemed to mew and purr in appreciation. The door in the back of the room slammed open, but Heracles wasn't even thinking about that. His eyes locked in on the now right side up sofa, its cushions and fabric covering looking _so_ comfortable…

"I need…" The teen yawned before he fell onto the sofa, "A nap. Just a few… minutes…"

* * *

><p>A few minutes actually grew into a few hours before Heracles woke up from his slumber, rubbing at his eyes before he gently woke his cats up to follow him into the new door.<p>

The door led to a dark area that was hewn from natural stone, a strange plaque that rested on the center wall depicting some sort of ritual. "Hm?" Finally, _finally_ Heracles's thief senses flared up. The special something that Sadiq wanted him to find… It had to be in here.

And lo and behold, there it was: sitting daintily on the ground with an intricate shine that glowed even in the darkness. Heracles picked up the item, which looked like a normal vase, and shrugged, "I guess that this could qualify as a treasure… Well, Sadiq knows more about it than I do, so he'll know what to do with it."

The teen placed the vase in his satchel before asking his cats, "Alright, now how do we get out of here?"

* * *

><p>Back at his house in the following morning, Sadiq had just prepared a simple breakfast for himself (a bit of bread, butter, and tea) and was slightly wondering if Heracles could really be trsuted for something of this much importance. He took a sip of tea and nearly choked on it when the front door opened, Heracles and his cats filing in to walk to the main room.<p>

"Heracles? You back already?" Sadiq asked, grabbing his cane and walking to the main room before he smiled, "Okay, show me the item!" Heracles took out the vase, stating,

"Here. It's what you wanted, right?" Sadiq blinked and whispered,

"No way…" He took the delicate item in his hands, examining it. "I can't believe this… The shine, the design, the luster…" Heracles allowed himself a moment of pride at the completion of his mission as Sadiq continued his awe. "I can't believe –" In an instant, Sadiq flung the vase to the ground, shattering it into sharp, tiny pieces. "THAT YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT!"

"What the hell?" Heracles barely got that statement out before Sadiq smacked him upside the head, fury in his eyes,

"You have to be joking around with me! Is this some sort of joke?" He shook his head, "How could any theif worth his salt make such a stupid mistake?"

"I don't get it, that was the only thing there!"

"Fucking moron… Idiot!" Sadiq wasn't having it; surely, _surely_ Heracles must have gotten something else from the castle! "Empty your satchel! Now!"

"Fine, calm down!" Heracles whispered as he turned his satchel upside down, various items spilling to the floor. One in particular made Sadiq's eyes widen.

"Where did you…" He picked up the silver cross. "Get this?"

"Some strange guy with white hair dropped it while I was in the castle." Heracles explained, bracing himself for another hit. But it didn't come. Sadiq only gulped, whispering,

"The owner of this cross… There is only one other cross like this and they both belong to the Princes of Gold Feather Castle."

Sadiq was getting dressed and making preparations for his own trip, all the while saying, "Okay, so here's how I see it: you completely failed at your first mission, but this is no time to be calling you an idiot."

"And what are _you_ going to do?" Heracles deadpanned as he quickly scarfed down whatever food he could. Sadiq smirked,

"_I'm_ not doing anything. But _we_ are going back to the castle to get the _real_ treasure!" Heracles wanted to argue this point _so_ badly, but he had already failed his first mission… He didn't need any other reason for Sadiq to be mad at him.

"Alright, just let the cats finish eating." In no time, the cats were up and ready to go, Sadiq announcing,

"Onward, the both of us, to Gold Feather Castle!", as he opened the door.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**Thanks for reading (Lydiacatfish and a few anonymous people) Please review!**

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	15. Heracles Part 3

Sadiq, Heracles, and the cats rushed through the village at full-speed (or as much as they could with Sadiq's knee still injured), and the older brunette didn't take time to start chastising.

"Let's go kid," Sadiq started, "That castle might be standin' still, but I ain't gettin' any –" Younger?" They both stopped when they could see the castle in the distance. But the sight that awaited them caused them to almost freeze in their steps.

Towards the drawbridge of Gold Feather Castle, a fleet of machines rolled across the ground. They were followed by a squad of young people in those strange dog-hats. They were led by a woman whose dog-hat was of a blue shade. She smirked as the tanks moved forward up towards the castle gates.

"What's going on? They shouldn't have even been able to get into the castle, let alone with those giant contraptions of theirs!" Sadiq snapped out before he silently signaled to Heracles for them to keep running, but as stealthy as possible.

They soon arrived at the castle gates, slinking around the tanks as they tried to sneak back into the castle without causing a scene. Sadiq looked around the corner, immediately shrinking back as he saw one of the dog-ear hats standing guard at the tank closest to the gate.

"Stay here." He commanded before he climbed up the tank, to the best of his ability, and jumped down on the opposite side; knocking the dog-ear hat unconscious. "Come on!" Sadiq whispered, Heracles quickly following him into the castle.

* * *

><p>But as soon as they got inside, they were greeted by the shocked gasps of two girls clad in the dog-ear hat uniform. "Should we… activate the homunculus?" One of the dog-ear hat girls whimpered, the other gritting out before she reached into her pocket for two steel pokers. They crackled with electricity before she stabbed them into the clay-figure.<p>

It jerked and spasmed violently before it stood to its feet and rushed towards the two men. "Go!" The girl shouted, the homunculus limping forward, swinging one of its misshapen arms towards the two males; Sadiq and Heracles jumping out of the way before the cats swarmed the beast, clawing and biting at it. While it was distracted, Heracles rushed forward and swung his hammer to the side of its head, knocking it clean off of his shoulders.

The girls screamed before running away into the castle, most likely to inform their fellow dog-ear hats of the intruders.

"What was that thing?" Heracles asked, kicking the homunculus's head away with his foot.

"Who knows?" Sadiq scoffed, "But there's no time to think about it, we have to get to the room where you found that stupid vase!"

"Fine…" Heracles sighed before they began running again.

* * *

><p>"Don't move!" They didn't get that far into the hallways before they encountered another strange figure. The young dog-ear hat had shouted out his command, holding up something akin to a rifle. Yet, Sadiq took a step forward, resulting in the young man firing his rifle; a beam of energy hitting the ground. "I said don't move!"<p>

"Fine then." Sadiq smirked, Heracles digging into his pocket and pulling out a smoke bomb. He quickly threw it to the floor, grey smoke billowing into the area and allowing the two to get past.

* * *

><p>Gold Feather Castle was quite the maze, it would seem, but after an hour of stealthy movement and brief confrontations, Sadiq, Heracles, and the cats made it into the room carved form stone, with the strange plaque on the wall.<p>

"The real treasure is further inside." Sadiq explained, walking forward into the dark chamber, "In retrospect, it kind of would have been impossible for you to get the treasure because you don't know the secret behind opening the door." Heracles only rolled his eyes,

"And you do?"

"Hm, someone opened this door pretty recently." The older man noticed before stating to himself, "It had to be one of the princes." Then, he seemed to shudder a bit; a bad thought going through his head.

"Old man?"

"Turn around, this is embarrassing!" Sadiq shouted and Heracles slowly did turn. When the older man was sure he couldn't be seen, he began to perform the strangest little dance. He hopped, he waved his arms, he jumped, he spun around, he… Shook his butt? By this point in time, Heracles had turned around and was now holding back laughter. "Don't look! I'm not sticking my butt out or anything!"

"I didn't think that it was possible," The younger thief shook his head, "But I've lost even _more_ respect for you Sadiq."

"Shut up!" Sadiq cried out in indignance as he kept dancing, "I taught ya this dance when you were younger, I even told you to do it whenever you got stuck somewhere! But no..! You had to forget it like an idiot!" And with that, he spun around once more, ending the dance. He smirked as the wall with the plaque slowly moved up, revealing a new doorway. "Now let's go! We need to get ahold of the princes and we should be wary of those dog-ear people!"

* * *

><p>The hidden doorway led to a balcony that over-looked the lush, green center courtyard. They were obviously in a hurry, but Heracles found his eyes entranced by the centerpiece of the area. Surrounded by a crystal-fountain, there stood a shining item standing up, embedded, in the ground.<p>

"What's that?" Heracles asked as he looked at the needle-type object in the courtyard.

"Oh that?" Sadiq hummed, "It's been passed down through the royal family's history for ages. I asked the old King about it once, but he just brushed me off and said 'forget about it'." He shook his head before grabbing Heracles's arm and shouting, "But that ain't what we're looking for! Let's go!"

* * *

><p>It seemed as they would only pass stairway, after stairway, after stairway. But it was interesting to hear Sadiq explain that the few remaining residents of Gold Feather Castle lived in <em>this<em> half of the castle, rather than what Heracles had explored.

"I think they were _really_ trying to keep something secret and—"

"Psychokinesis – Thunder!" In an instant, interrupting Sadiq's speech, a bolt of electricity shot towards the two thieves; throwing them for a bit of a loop.

"Damn it!" Sadiq gritted out as he stood to shaky feet. They anticipated another attack, but where surprised to see that it would only happen once.

"Wait a minute…" The voice was followed by a teenager walking down the stairs. His short blonde hair was slicked back and his blue eyes regarded the two with unease as his black cloak swirling around him before he asked, "Sadiq, is that you?"

"Prince Ludwig!" Sadiq called out, giving the teen a firm smack on the back, "It's been ages!"

"It has!" The blonde prince agreed before looking to Heracles and then asking Sadiq, "So, you two are here to find _that_ as well?"

"Yes." Sadiq nodded, Ludwig looked like he was about to say something when he remembered,

"Gilbert!". Before running up the stairs. Heracles and Sadiq followed, soon seeing the albino teen that Heracles had bumped into the other night. However, the white-clad prince's red eyes were narrowed in pain and focus as he looked at his ankle which was caught in a bear-trap. He huffed before digging into a pocket and bringing out a butcher's knife he had nicked from the kitchen.

"Gilbert, nein!" Ludwig yelled out just as the albino was about to land the blade to his ankle. He looked up and laughed,

"West? Oh wait, is that Sadiq?" Ludwig nodded and rushed over, Sadiq running over and taking the blade out of the young albino prince's hand,

"What the _hell_ do you call yourself doing?" Gilbert rolled his eyes as he explained, completely unphased,

"I got my leg caught in this stupid-ass trap. I can't afford to die here, so I was considering cutting my foot off. **( 1 )**" Ludwig sighed,

"No Gilbert…", before he asked Sadiq, "Do you two have anything that could help us out of this?" Heracles nodded, bringing out his hammer and looking for the trap's weak-point before he knocked at it, the whole thing falling apart. Gilbert looked at the bloody bruises for a moment, then he wrapped his hands around it; closing his eyes and breathing out before a soft glow emanated from the area. It quickly vanished and the albino removed his hands, his ankle as good as new.

"Because I am _so_ awesome!" He whooped as he jumped up. However, when he looked at Heracles, who Sadiq had tied the silver cross too while they were traveling, he shouted, "Oi, you stole my cross!" He ran up and snatched it away, tying it around his neck before he smiled, "Anyways, I'm Gilbert, the more awesome of the Gold Feather Princes." He looked to Sadiq, "You here for _that_ too?"

"Yeah…" Sadiq hummed, "I explained to your brother that –"

"Then we might as well all search for it! Am I right?" Gilbert laughed as he prepared to rush down the hall. But Heracles had to ask,

"Aren't you injured?"

"Hell no! Healed myself right up, didn't you see?" He then scoffed, "The fuck are you guys waiting for? Come on!" They didn't have much else to do there, so they all quickly moved down the hallway. But it wasn't long before Heracles's curious nature struck. He turned to Ludwig and asked,

"What was that you did earlier?"

"Oh, you mean PSI?" Ludwig asked before he began, "Me and my brother, since the day that we could talk, have been trained in the art of psychic powers, or PSI."

"It's fucking awesome!" Gilbert smirked before his hands began glowing and he juggled a ball of fire, a ball of ice, and a ball of electricity that quickly appeared.

"Would you quit wasting energy?" Ludwig barked back. Gilbert snapped his fingers, the three balls disappearing before he laughed,

"Kesesese… Is someone jealous that my PSI-skills are more advanced than theirs?"

"No, I..!" The yell drifted off into a low whine as Ludwig's movement faltered.

"What's wrong with him?" Heracles asked when the blonde began sweating and panting slightly. Gilbert clicked his tongue and groaned,

"A PSI-Fever? Now West?"

"Don't look at me," Ludwig panted, "Like I caused this!" Gilbert groaned, turning to Sadiq,

"He's going to be like this for at least half an hour, so we should go a certain way so we won't bump into anything…" Sadiq silently agreed before they began to slowly walk. Yet, Ludwig had to stop a couple of times when his breathing got difficult.

"What is it with you kids and those fevers anyway!" Sadiq asked, Gilbert explaining,

"It's how our abilities get stronger. Don't ask me how, the Magypsies explained it to us!" His rant moved into a sigh, however, as he remembered, "Though, it's what kind of caused a really fucked up thing to happen earlier…"

* * *

><p><em>Gilbert and Ludwig had been searching the castle for a certain item that they desperately needed to find so that it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. But, as fate would have it, Gilbert soon found himself out of breath, a severe fever hindering all movement. <em>

"_Verdammt!" Ludwig seethed out as he helped his PSI-Fever afflicted brother to a safe-spot up in the rafters of the castle. He planned to just wait it out, but he heard something that made him gasp and look down into the main hall. _

_He flinched, Gilbert forcing him to stay quiet, as they saw their three faithful servants: Antonio, Lovino, and Feliciano all tied up and being forced to kneel on the ground as a man with cream-colored hair and winter clothing asked them, _

"_I do not have times to be playing games, so tell me: _Where_ is the Humming Bird Egg?" Antonio stayed silent, Lovino gritted out, _

"_Fuck off!", and Feliciano muttered, _

"_I don't know what you're talking about…" Ivan expected as much, so he knelt down and asked in a sweet voice, _

"_Come now, I do not wish to hurt any of you. Could you please just tell me where I can find what I'm looking for and then I'll be out of your hair?" Feliciano turned towards him, and Ivan thought he would get an admission. But instead, the slim brunette spat in his face; a look of defiance in his eyes. _

_Ivan frowned as he wiped the mess from his cheek. Then, he gave a vicious slap to Feliciano's face, sending him to the floor before he called out, "Take them away to the prison ship. I will find the treasure myself." As they were being dragged away, Ludwig desperately wanted to do something, but Gilbert kept holding him back. _

"_Damn it West, stop!" He hissed, "If we go down there, we'll be captured too! Or worse!" And as much as it ripped him apart inside, Ludwig had to agree. _

* * *

><p>By the time Gilbert had finished his recollection, Ludwig's fever had broken and he asked himself, "What has changed now?" He had to wait a minute before it clicked into his mind to try, "Psychokinesis – Freeze!" Right after, a ball of ice appeared in his hand, waiting to be thrown.<p>

"Hey West!" Gilbert laughed as they reached a door, "You've finally caught up to your big brother!"

"Shut up, Gil…" Ludwig went silent as he recognized the door in front of them, "I think we're here." Sadiq didn't waste any time and moved to open the door, everyone slowly walking into the dark room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**( 1 ) This was actually said in the original game. Maybe that's why Nintendo of America is being a bunch of pussies with releasing Mother 3 in the states!**

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	16. Heracles Part 4

Inside the room it was pitch-black, the only thing breaking through the darkness was a warm, pink glow emanating from the center of the room. They all walked forward, as if attracted to it, until they saw it.

"Hey, there it is!" Sadiq announced. _It_ was a rose-shaded, egg-shaped crystal. It floated above a porcelain pedestal due to the small, gossamer wings that were on its back. As he walked closer to it, Sadiq spoke, "This is where it was hidden all those years ago…" He turned towards Heracles, "_This_ is the important item that I wanted you to bring back: The Egg of Light, otherwise known as the Hummingbird Egg." Heracles felt warmth seep through him as he looked at the Egg, the thief in him asking,

"What does it do?"

"Truth be told…" Sadiq cleared his throat, "I don't even know anymore." He walked around the pedestal, carefully keeping his distance, "It's a ball of secrets upon even bigger secrets."

"Yes, and it's needed right now!" Gilbert snapped, charging forward, "If someone got ahold of this thing, all those complicated secrets could come undone!"

"What kind of purpose does something like this have, I wonder…" Sadiq hummed to himself before shaking his head, "Either way, it's a secret!" Though it was kind of off-topic, Ludwig thought out loud,

"It seems kind of weird that a tiny hummingbird egg holds all the world's secrets…" Sadiq laughed,

"Yep, it's almost as ridiculous as the idiot standing here." He gave Heracles a pointed stare, "Such an intense treasure and you couldn't even find it? You are a failure as a thief!" Gilbert could only sigh and shake his head,

"Oi, stop beating the kid up like that!" Ludwig carefully looked around, quietly stating,

"Anyway, we should get this thing out of here before – Gott in Himmel?" He was cut off when the room started to shake. It would shake every few seconds, as if something was hitting it. But Sadiq could only whisper,

"Speak of the devil…"

* * *

><p>Outside of the room, Ivan and a group of dog-ear hats were standing around the door to the room as a homunculus tried to force its way through the door.<p>

Ivan only looked upon the scene, amethyst eyes cold and indifferent. The homunculus slammed itself against the door, Ivan calling out,

"Again." Another slam. "Again." Another slam. "Again."

* * *

><p>"Let's go," Gilbert shouted, rushing up and grabbing the Humming Bird Egg before Sadiq could yell,<p>

"Wait, no! It's a -!" The floor opened up beneath them all, dropping them into a dark abyss as Ludwig screamed,

"TRAP!"

"WHY DON'T KIDS EVER LISTEN TO ME~!" Sadiq howled as they fell through the darkness.

After a moment, Gilbert's voice could be heard, "My bad."

* * *

><p>The darkness that surrounded them broke when the group fell into a cold pool of water. With a loud breath, Gilbert broke the water's surface; quickly followed by Ludwig and Sadiq, the older man asking, "Are you guys alright?"<p>

"Yeah." Gilbert choked out,

"Yes." Ludwig nodded, swimming across the surface.

"Where's Heracles?" Sadiq shouted. After a moment, Heracles and his cats inhaled as they desperately tried to tread water. "Oh, you got the egg! You're not such a failure after all!" Ludwig shook his head, about to say something about Sadiq's parenting when a hiss rippled through the waves.

"What's that?" Heracles whispered, trying to stay quiet. Then, with a loud splash, the massive form of a beast half rooster, half snake. Its glaring red eyes narrowed at them before it crowed, shaking the room; skulls dislodging from the walls and splashing into the water. Gilbert's eyes were wide, the albino gulping,

"That's the—"

"Gold Feather Cockerel… Keeper of the secrets of this castle…" Ludwig finished just as the Cockerel flew forward, razor-sharp wings trying to decapitate the group. They all dived underneath the waves, Ludwig coming back up to yell, "Psychokinesis – Freeze!" A ball of ice formed in his hands, quickly being flung into the beast's chest; shards of ice spreading across its wings. The Cockerel hissed out in pain before it sunk underneath the water. The group gathered together, not letting themselves be taken by surprise.

But it was all for naught as the water surged up all around them, creating a massive wave that slammed them all into one of the cavern walls.

"Shit!" Gilbert gritted out, getting his bearings before he shouted out, "PK Thunder!" There was a rumbling above them before a bolt of lightning struck down and made contact with the beast's head.

The cockerel swayed in the water, its mind being rattled from the attack. "Heracles!" Sadiq shouted, the young brunette jumping out of the water and wielding a staple and a hammer. With a grunt, he lowered the staple before, with a loud crack, forcing it into the creature's skull with his hammer.

A dazed shuffling of feet and then a harsh squawk filled the cavern, the cockerel falling to the waves as its breathing slowly stopped.

"Fuck yes!" Gilbert whopped out, "Who's awesome? That's right, me!" The rest of them panted in relief, happy that the massive threat was gone. But there was a rumbling underneath the water, everyone gulped.

"Oh, now what?" Sadiq groaned. As if to answer the merchant, a door opened in the cavern: the water beginning to rush out.

"Damn it, no!" Ludwig shouted, desperately trying to swim away from the powerful current. But the waters proved too strong and the four bodies were whisked out with the tide.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon, on the sandy shores that surrounded Mirror Falls, Lili was strolling across the shore; picking up seashells to decorate her and her brother's home. She was just about to pick up a pearl conch-shell when she stopped in her tracks at a sight on the shoreline.<p>

At the sight of Ludwig's, Gilbert's, and Sadiq's bodies, she promptly passed out, her shells falling to the ground.

* * *

><p>"Mrm…" Sadiq groaned, trying to awaken his body from the darkness. With a gasp, the older man shot up from the bed he had been placed in, looking around wildly. At the side of the bed, Gilbert and Ludwig sat, the blonde sighing, "Thank Gott, you're alright!"<p>

"Ow…" Sadiq hissed, grabbing his head in pain, "Where are we..?"

"You three were washed up the river." That came from Lili, the short-haired girl setting a tray of cups of test on the dresser, "Luckily Chineme and Elizaveta were around to help me."

"I see…" Sadiq sighed, about to lie back down. But a sudden thought, like a bolt of lightning, struck his mind. "Wait, did you see Heracles?"

…

Lili shook her head before replying, "It was only you three. I'm sorry." She stood to her feet, offering a quick, "I have to start dinner for big brother, please make yourself at home!" Before she left. Sadiq gritted his teeth, punching the sheets,

"Damn him, taking his sweet time! I don't need this – Ow!"

"We should look for him at once." Ludwig stated, Gilbert agreeing as Sadiq nodded,

"He has the Hummingbird Egg. We can't risk his idiocy leaving it at risk!"

They left at once, Sadiq leading the way back to town; knowing all of Heracles's hang-outs. He _had_ to be lazying about again, that's just the way things were; it wouldn't change, right?

Right?

* * *

><p>They soon walked towards the center of Mirror Falls, a large group of people standing around the well. You see, they had been drawn over by Vash: the frantic blonde kicking and ripping apart the plants, looking for something before he screamed. He turned and shouted, "SADIQ!"<p>

"Yeah, what's the problem?" Vash stormed over before screaming,

"Where's Heracles? Tell me where that little bastard is this instant, old man!"

"The fuck are ya talking about?" Sadiq frowned, not in the mood for anyone's bull I of they couldn't tell him where the young brunette was. Murmurs filled the air as Vash yelled,

"He was the only one that I told about the money I hid here…" He remembered that night well in his mind before he shouted, "The asshole stole it!"

"But…" Peter asked as he walked up from the group, "What _is_ money? And where did you get it?" Roderich huffed, keeping a careful hand on his own pocket,

"You _would_ want to know, little street-urchin."

"Roderich!" Elizaveta hissed. Ever since that night at the inn with Ivan and those strange coins, her husband had been acting so _strange_. Vash shook his head, gritting,

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" There was silence before who should pipe up but Chineme, stating as she held her purse close to herself,

"Look, now: Sadiq and Heracles are both _thieves_! They probably never did anything because they never had anything to steal, oh." She gave Sadiq a nasty glare before adding, "I for one don't want them stealing from me, now!" A few others who knew what money was agreed with the earth-skinned woman before Gilbert stomped up and shouted,

"Alright, listen here you crazy people! Your awesome crown prince is here and –" A stretching creak announced Vash wielding his bow, an arrow ready to be shot.

"Any friend to the thieves is an enemy of mine, so fuck off!"

"All of you calm down!" Everyone turned, some gasping in shock at who had spoken. It was Arthur, accompanied by Kumajirou; the blonde stating, "All this chaos won't help anything; especially with Heracles missing!" The blonde walked over and rested a hand on Sadiq's shoulder, saying, "I don't believe that Heracles did anything. We just have to wait until he comes back."

The few in the crowd who knew what money was, all mumbled and grumbled their distrust before disbursing. Arthur flinched as he felt Sadiq's shoulders trembling, the merchant's broken voice whispering,

"Heracles… You idiot…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**What? Now we've lost Heracles? Will the tragedy never cease? But fortunately, the next chapter is the end of the Heracles Saga. Yay? Please review!**

**-Tyranno's girl. **


	17. Heracles End

_The strange group who had been tinkering with the creatures of the forest like toys has finally launched their plan to alter the lives, town, and even the hearts of the people… _

In the Sol Forest, the cries and screams of animals pierced through the air, combining with whirs and whistles of machinery.

_It seems as if a grand scheme is occurring behind the scenes of the actions of that mysterious wanderer Ivan… _

In his room at Chineme's inn, Ivan smiled as he nursed his cup of alcohol: the sounds of the disgruntled townsfolk as sweet as music to his ears. The little grey creature shivered in pain as he was forced to stay in the corner behind the door.

_However, not everyone is content to sit by idly and watch these scenes take place; the enemy continuing their attacks from every angle…_

Arthur slowly walked into his house, not at all minding Matthew who was struggling to cook something for dinner.

_Arthur, whose family was shattered…_

"Damn it!" Sadiq's fists slammed against the wall of his house, eyes streaming tears and his face contorted in heartfelt agony. "Heracles, come back damn it! Hurry up and…" He sank to the floor, "Come back…"

His house seemed unbearably empty without his little free-loader.

_Sadiq and Heracles, thieves for justice…_

Inside the sitting room of Sadiq's house, Gilbert and Ludwig were sitting around; deep in thought. Everything that had happened to them in the past few days: their beloved servants being hauled off, their castle being attacked, the people of Mirror Falls turning against each other…

"Something's seriously fucked up around here West." Gilbert frowned, Ludwig nodding a silent reply before snapping his fingers: the fire in the fireplace surging to life.

_Princes Gilbert and Ludwig, the boys who have just suddenly appeared… _

_Destiny is bringing forth those who would use their strengths for good. _

_And what of Matthew, our poor tormented soul?_

"Alfred…" The small blonde whimpered as he cuddled up next to Kumajirou in bed. "Please come back… We've already lost Maman, I can't lose you too…"


	18. Tony Part 1

**A/N: So here I am again. I want to thank my one anonymous reviewer and Hungary-senpai for their reviews. Also, thanks for those who have story alerted this fic. Thanks again, this is for you guys. **

**This saga... No one likes this saga. When I first watched a let's play of Mother 3, I skipped this ENTIRE saga! But it is important to the plot so, here we go!**

* * *

><p><em>This world is such a scary place,<em>

_Can we please go home?_

_Have mercy…_

The Sanctu Islands was a vast, mysterious area. It had many different areas and climates in its relatively small space. From viridian forests, to majestic mountains, any type of climate you could think of the islands had it.

In the far east of the island, there was a huge, arid desert filled to the brim with sand and constantly beating beat down upon by the glaring sun above. The strange music that had been floating down on the island echoed all around as a massive airship with a paw-print insignia landed on top of a large sand-dune. After it was safely on the ground, a group of people wearing the dog-ear hats walked up to it; led by a woman in a blue version of the uniform.

The doors of the airship opened, more dog-ear soldiers walking out; giving the high-fisted salute to their fellow soldiers. After a moment, one of them walked out: forcibly pulling along a small, lanky, grey-toned creature with almond-shaped red eyes. When they were both out of the ship far enough, the soldier forced the creature into the dirt below.

"Lulu!" That cry came from another grey creature that was being forcibly held back. She looked just like the first one except she had a hat with a strange, silver flower on her head. As both creatures were crying out against their forced separation, footsteps crackled into the sand surrounding them. One of the dog-ear hats in blue turned before bowing,

"Sir Ivan." The others gave a salute to the cream-haired man in the heavy clothing as he approached. However, Ivan wasn't in the mood for fake pleasantries. He kept his face stern as he walked forward, looking at the disobedient creature before smirking,

"Listen here and listen well, if you do not do as I say, I will mutilate your little girlfriend's so bad that not even you will be able to recognize her corpse, da?"

"Pupu!" The first creature cried in rage, Ivan wagging his finger,

"Do as you're told and you will have a lovely reunion later." "If you shit around with me, the both of you are as good as dead. **Understood?**" The creature flinched as Ivan's voice grew darker, his eyes flashing to red for a moment. But soon Ivan returned to his fake smile, "Good! Now then…" He took out a remote control from his pocket and pressed the main button, a vicious surge of electricity crackling through every nerve of the grey creature's body until he collapsed to the floor, gripping at the collar that had been snapped around his neck. Ivan chuckled,

"Did you like that? That is courtesy of the wonderful collar I was giving to you. It is to make sure that even if you ran to the vast reaches of this desert, I could still make your wretched existence a living hell, yes?" The creature struggled to get its footing back, his body still reeling from the electric shock, but he began shivering as Ivan walked over and kneeled in front of him. The man's violet eyes bore deep into his own as he asked, _"Can you hear me? Can you understand me?"_ To a point that the creature could hear it in his very mind. When the grey creature nodded, Ivan continued, _"Your name… Tell it to me."_ The creature gulped before replying in his mind,

"_Tony, pupu…"_ He turned to his girlfriend, _"And she's Tina – PUPU!"_ He screeched inside his head as another bolt of electricity was forced through him.

"I was not asking for your life story, just a name." Ivan frowned, "Now, listen here because I will only explain this once: in the presence of others, you and I are _best of friends_, da? Don't you dare try to run from me. Be on your best behavior, understand?" Tony nodded, "Good. Also, you are _never_ to disobey me. If I say dance, you dance. If I say laugh, you laugh. Simple, yes?" Tony slowly nodded, Ivan smiling, "I think that we can get through this without any problems or hard feelings, da?"

Tony gritted his teeth, wanting nothing more than to grab Tina and run away. But Ivan caught it and frowned, "What is with that defiant look? Dance, now!" Tony was put on the spot, so he just started moving his legs and flailing his arms: Ivan laughing, "What a stupid creature to perform such a stupid dance! It is almost embarrassing!"

Ivan forced Tony to dance, laugh, and even perform a backflip before he made him stop. "That is enough," He turned to the soldiers surrounding them and ordered, "Go back to camp, I will begin the first phases of the plan at once. Keep your phones on in case I am calling."

"Sir!" They all nodded before filing into the ship and taking Tina with them. She screamed out as she was taken, Tony almost going after them but Ivan pressed the button again: electrocuting the poor creature. The last soldier walked up into the ship, kicking Tony away and muttering, "Stupid alien." Before the doors closed behind her.

The ship slowly took off into the sky, Tony screaming and pounding his small fist into the sand as it disappeared into the airs above. Ivan frowned at the tears in Tony's eyes, groaning, "By the great Dog King, _stop crying_!" He pressed the button again, shocking Tony out of his grief. When the alien got out of his unconsciousness, Ivan began, "Now, there is a large, round building west of here. We shall be going there immediately, da?"

What choice did Tony have? If he wanted to have _any_ chance of seeing his girlfriend _or_ his planet again, he had to obey this horrible man. He stood to his shaky feet and followed Ivan through the windy, dry desert.

* * *

><p>"Ugh…" Ivan groaned as they had been walking for an hour over piles and piles of sand, "I am hating sand, I am hating heat…" A beetle had made the mistake of flying past his vision. Ivan grabbed it and flung it into the ground, the force and pressure killing the creature, "And I am <em>hating<em> these damn bugs!" Tony was miserable as well. Ivan hadn't given him anything to eat or drink when he and Tina had been taken hostage, so he was practically dehydrated and –

What was that? He rushed over and saw something buried in the sand. Ivan was about to shock him, but when he saw what it was, his eyes sparkled, "Ah! Stupid alien, give me that this instant!" Tony sighed and unburied what appeared to be a bottle. It was miraculously cold and Ivan snatched it up, sighing, "Vodka! This desert isn't such a miserable hell-hole after all!" He flicked the bottle-cap off and immediately downed the icy, cool contents: forcing Tony to watch with a painfully parched throat when he tossed the empty bottle away. "Come along then." Ivan smiled as he led the way, Tony sighing as he had to follow.

Thankfully, they soon reached the large building that Ivan had talked about. It was a white dome with a paw-mark insignia on top. But laying there, in front of the doors, was a creature that looked like a coyote. But it had spikes, not unlike a cactus, all along its body. "Shit…" Ivan frowned before looking to Tony and smiling, "Listen here alien, you will distract that cactus-wolf while I open the doors!"

"_What?"_ Tony shrieked in his mind. Ivan pulled out the remote and Tony flinched before gulping and walking over to the cactus-wolf. The beast sniffed the air, growling and glaring as Tony approached. The alien shrieked as the cactus-wolf began barking and chasing him down, Ivan taking a leisurely stroll towards the door and punching in a series of buttons on the number-display next to the door.

"What to say?" He hummed to himself, "Some silly message about happiness or something of that sort?" The door slid open with a mechanic whirr, Ivan calling out, "Come along stupid alien." Tony dodged the cactus-wolf's jaws and ran towards Ivan with the beast hot on his heels. But as soon as Tony was behind him, Ivan effortlessly grabbed the cactus-wolf by the scruff of its neck and flung it into the wall: a sickening crack sounding out as it made an impact so harsh that it left an indent on the wall. Needless to say, Tony was terrified. But the cream-haired man hummed, "Come inside, do not dawdle."

* * *

><p>The both of them slowly walked into the dome-like building, a steel, moving staircase carrying them both down into a rusting, metal walkway covered in dripping pipes and crawling with insects.<p>

Tony shivered at the sheer _unnatural_ feel that this place had as they walked through it, but Ivan had no such qualm. They both walked, the man squashing bugs if they so much as got in his line of vision, until they came to a large chamber. Inside of it was another one of those strange devices that Arthur and Jeanne had found in the caverns, but Ivan wasn't focusing on that. "Alien, look here." Tony was in a bit of a daze, a combination of exhaustion and dehydration, so it took him a moment. Unfortunately, it was a moment _too_ long in Ivan's eyes.

Tony was quickly electrocuted again, falling to his side before Ivan began, "Look over there." Tony painfully turned his head, eyes blinking at the strange sight in front of him. It was a sleek, curved mass of metal, with glass windows on its sides and the whole thing stood on four rubber wheels. "This is called an automobile. We are going to drive it to an _incredibly_ backwards little village called Mirror Falls. It would take far too long to get there from her on foot, so we will use this to get there in the blink of an eye." The cream-haired man opened the door, grabbing Tony by his arm and tossing him in like a sack of potatoes before he walked in and slammed the door behind himself.

"Start." He ordered. With a low, rumbling purr, the automobile turned on: a long display of lights and switches blinking in response to the command. Ivan grabbed the steering wheel and muttered, "Brace yourself.", before punching the accelerator; the automobile zooming through a darkened doorway.

They drove through another dark, rusty, dripping tunnel for thirty minutes before it led them into a clear, glass tunnel: dog-ear hat soldiers working on it from the outside. Tony looked at the scenery he could see through the crystal driveways: trees and clears skies as far as the eye could see. It seemed as though this planet _did_ contain some sort of beauty. If only he were going through it on better circumstances.

Ivan kept driving, not saying a word as they passed through more and more subterranean tunnels being built by dog-ear hats. But finally, after a silent two hour drive, the violet-eyed man parked the vehicle and spoke, "Get out, we are here." Tony quickly scrambled out of the car, not wanting to risk another electric shock. "Good, you are learning!" Ivan smiled as he led the way to a ladder in the back of the new room.

* * *

><p>The ladder led to a familiar place, a tombstone opening up inside the Sunset Cemetery to allow Ivan and Tony to climb out into the cool, night air. "Alright then," Ivan took a deep breath, "We were making reasonable time. Now," He turned towards Tony, "South of this Cemetery is a village. That is our next destination, I know of an Inn where we can rest up for tomorrow."<p>

* * *

><p>A stroll in the night is usually such a relaxing activity. But Tony was tense and nervous as he struggled to keep in pace with his cruel taskmaster. Sooner than later (Tony thanked his lucky stars) they reached the bell-tower just outside of town where Berwald was up cleaning the bell as Tino swept the front steps. When the sound of footsteps became noticeable, Tino looked over and smiled, "Good evening! Welcome to Mirror Falls!" Tony noticed something a bit… off about the young blonde, but Ivan rolled his eyes and let out a scoff as he looked up and saw Berwald glaring down at him.<p>

"Come along Tony," Ivan smiled, "We must be going."

They entered the center of the village, not before Ivan looked near the gates and saw Vash looking into a heavy-laden bag and counting to himself; eyes wide in a strange sort of glee. "Hello Vash." Ivan greeted, sneaking up behind the dog-breeder and causing him to jump up and clutch the bag closer to himself. "I see you are enjoying the money I was giving you."

"Mr. Ivan!" Vash panted, "Please don't scare me like that. But yes, I was actually just counting to see how much was in here."

'_Stupid boy…'_ Ivan thought, laughing a bit in his mind at what would happen if Vash actually _knew_ what his dogs were being used for. That reminded him, he needed to call the soldiers to check how the new shipment of _dog-ear hat uniforms_ were coming along. "Well, just make sure that it isn't snatched up by any greedy thieves!" And with that, Ivan walked off, Tony following close behind.

Yet, he didn't get far before—

"AH!" He yelped as a young, brunette teenager dressed like a thief bumped into Ivan's sturdy frame. The cream-haired man's eyes sparkled for a second before he helped the teen up and offered, "Oh, my apologies. I'm in such a hurry that I wasn't paying attention." The brunette took the offered hand and recovered himself,

"No problem." Ivan smiled before he gave a slight bow in apology before calling out,

"Come along." Tony looked towards the teen with pleading eyes. The cream-haired man clenched his hand into a fist, his eyes shifting to red as he gritted out, "I said, _come along_."

Tony rushed over to the man's side, the both of them leaving towards the inn.

* * *

><p>"Hopefully no ignorant mind will try and take it if I hide it in this well." He whispered as he set the bag down and covered it with the grass and leaves that grew near the well. "Well, I have to get back home to Lili. Don't tell anyone about my secret, right Heracles?"<p>

"Right…" Heracles shrugged his shoulders, not sure what to think of 'money'. But he remembered his mission and, after a few short breaths, he began sprinting again.

Neither of them knew that, while Vash was hiding his new treasure, Ivan was hiding with Tony in the shadows of a nearby building: listening to every word.

* * *

><p>Ivan stumbled into his newly assigned room inside Chineme's inn after the party he had helped bring about with a few coins and smooth words. He flopped down into bed, slightly noticing that Tony hadn't followed him. "Is he..?" He closed his eyes, seeming to think for a bit, before he smirked, "He is." He brought out the remote, pressed the button, and waited. Sure enough, Tony limped in: his flesh still sizzling from an electric shock caused when Ivan noted that he had tried to run away. "Starting tomorrow," Ivan explained, taking a sip of liquor that he had taken long to his room, "Your <em>real<em> work shall begin. Now," He brought the sheets over himself and ordered, "Go into that corner and sleep! I will not tolerate laziness tomorrow.

Tony gave a sad nod, walking over to the room's farthest corner and collapsing into an exhaustion-induced coma.

* * *

><p>Mirror Falls was quiet, nothing making nary a peep or stir as everyone slept on through the night. But inside of Chineme's inn, Ivan quietly snuck through the darkened lobby and went outside.<p>

* * *

><p>He walked over the well at the center of the village when his phone rang. "Hello?" While he was talking, he didn't notice that red eyes were watching him from the shadows. "So you have arrived at Gold Feather Castle? Good. Wait until the sun rises and then take the place by storm. Also, what of the new uniforms? I see. Well, I have a feeling that the dog-breeder will sell me more of his product,"<p>

Ivan reached into the plants and leaves and pulled out the bag of money that Vash had hidden, "_Very_ soon, da?" Ivan chuckled a bit, but his smile withered away as the soldier on the other end said something. "What? Who _else _could be in the castle? King Aldrich and King Julius died _ages_ ago! Yes, there is the matter of the princes and their servants. … Another person? … Oh. Yes, just leave him be; probably some little punk of a kid who got himself lost." Ivan casually swung the bag of coins as the soldier talked, "Wait? Wavy brown hair, has a bunch of cats following him, and has a stupid sleepy look on his face? Yes, I may have seen him myself… No matter, I leave it in your hands. Stay alert and keep me updated. For the honor of the Great Dog King."

Ivan hung up the phone and began to walk back to the Inn.

* * *

><p>Inside, Tony shivered as he tried to give the image of sleep. But when Ivan opened the door, he walked over to the small alien and kicked him in his stomach before shocking him repeatedly, gritting out, "I thought I was telling you to sleep! This is what you get for disobeying me, little bastard!" For an hour, Ivan alternated between kicking and shocking the poor alien until he was literally black and blue. Finally, the cream-haired man lay back in bed and shouted, "Go to sleep!"<p>

* * *

><p>Tony collapsed, broken, into a fitful sleep filled with Tina's screams, Ivan's laughs, and his own tears.<p> 


	19. Tony Part 2

"Wake up! Now!" Was all Tony heard before his body seized up in the throes of another electric-shock. When he could finally stand, still a bit dazed with sleep and exhaustion, Ivan frowned, "How long were you expecting to sleep? Stupid alien."

"_I hate you…"_ Tony seethed out in his mind, narrowing his eyes. But Ivan ignored him, announcing,

"Just keep acting cute and silly, use those skills to help charm the villagers and I will set you and your girlfriend free. But…" He smiled, "If the villagers get bored while I'm talking, you will get to see first-hand how high that collar's electric-power can go, da?" Tony had never had the opportunity to do so, but he looked at the remote and saw that it was still only on setting '1' out of '5'. When Tony gulped, Ivan smiled and told him, "Good. Now let us go."

* * *

><p>Simple music could be heard from the center of Mirror Falls. Around the well, people had gathered to hear a message be spoken. That message was courtesy of the strange wanderer Ivan. "Come, gather one and all! Come and listen all fair and intelligent denizens of Mirror Falls!" Where Ivan stood, Tony danced a few feet away from him; playing a tambourine that Ivan gave him.<p>

When everyone's attention was on him, Ivan began, "May I first congratulate you on all the hard work you put into this village every single day!" Tony clapped the tambourine against his hands. "I have come here today to give you all the most _wonderful_ news! A message… of happiness!" Ivan frowned a bit as some of the villagers left, but he smiled again as he saw that his faithful few had stayed along.

"Blue skies, white clouds, bountiful crops, and healthy livestock…" The cream-haired man sighed, "Kind-hearted neighbors and families; this village is filled with so many wonderful things! But…"

"But?" Roderich leaned in forward, despite Elizaveta wanting to go home. Ivan chuckled,

"There is still something missing here, my friends. A tiny speck of uncertainty that steals into every peaceful day!" He brought out a rose from his pocket, everyone gasping as they were reminded of the late Francis, "Why should we live in such a place where gentle beauty can be ripped from us? Where innocence is corrupted by dark and fearsome skies?" He stomped his foot on the ground, Tony dancing and shaking the tambourine,

"You all should be more comfortable in your lives! More at ease! Look out into the forests," He waved an arm towards the surrounding woodlands, "It is now filled with strange, dangerous creatures! And, look there!" As he pointed to the skies, everyone looked and watched with frightened eyes as a large, round object floated through the air, "Strange, round objects now fill our gentle skies!" He let himself have a slight giggle at the fear in the villagers' eyes before he asked, "What is going on? What is happening to our world?"

"Do you know?" Chineme asked, clutching to her husband' (who desperately wanted to leave) arm, "Is there any way to prevent this, now?" Ivan sighed but nodded,

"In a moment, my dear. But there is something else I must be telling you all: I have seen a vision of the near future! Where bolts of lightning will strike down from the heavens onto our poor, unsuspecting neighbors day by day!" Ivan noted that someone in the audience had laughed. His eyes narrowed, flashing red, as he muttered an unintelligible phrase.

It happened almost instantly, but dark clouds started billowing in; crackling with thunder. Screams and murmurs arose from the audience, some wanting to flee from the oncoming threat. "But my friends, do not worry!" Ivan called out, he clouds dissipating almost instantly. "This day, my benefactor has smiled upon you! You can obtain happiness in the flap of a bird's wing! Look at my dear Tony here!"

He pointed to the dancing alien, "He is dancing so happily because he _too_ has found happiness! So may I ask you all," Ivan addressed everyone, "Who is ready to find their own happiness? Please raise your hands for all to see!" Just as he thought, those who had seen the wonders of money raised their hands instantly, a few others raising their hands just out of curiosity.

"Wonderful! Splendid! Now, Tony, go ask the wonderful people who want happiness for their names and addresses please." Tony put the tambourine down and took a piece of paper and pen from Ivan. He then walked into the audience and wrote down Roderich's, Chineme's, Vash's, and a few other names and addresses.

"Thank you all! I am sure that with this many people achieving true happiness, all will be right in this world from now on! If anyone else changes their minds, feel free to come and talk with me, da? There is no such thing as _too_ much happiness! Well then," He wrapped his scarf tight around his neck, "That is all for today's preaching. May happiness come to Mirror Falls! Take care!" Ivan spoke a few more pleasantries until Tony came back with the information they needed. They then went back to Chineme's Inn.

* * *

><p>Tony was hoping that he did a good job: Ivan hadn't said anything when they got back to their room, but he did get a phone call. "What is it? Did you find the item? What? What do you mean there are others in the Castle? Just take them all by force and kick them out! …" Ivan sighed, "Fine, I'll be right there as soon as my business here is done. Make sure you find it or I'll have <em>your<em> ears made into the next batch of uniforms! Farewell…" Ivan hung up the phone, growling, "Idiots! Tony!" The alien stood straight up as Ivan began, "The keys to everyone's happiness are hidden inside the Cemetery. Go deliver them to all the names and addresses on this paper! And if you don't do it in under 23 minutes, you'll get to experience setting '4' out of '5', da? But if you finish in under 22 minutes, I will give you something to eat. So get going! And don't try and run or else I'll tell my subordinates to punish your little girlfriend." Tony groaned, but a snap of Ivan's fingers caused him to immediately leave the room.

* * *

><p>Tony ran as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him all the way back to the Cemetery. And, sure enough, next to the tombstone that had been their entryway into the village, there was a pile of large boxes, each labeled with a paw-print insignia, <em>"Damn it, Pupu…"<em> Tony sighed before trying to pick one of the boxes up. It was _so_ heavy, Tony could barely move. But the little alien knew he couldn't risk Ivan's anger, especially the way he kept threatening Tina. So he pushed through and carried the box back to town.

* * *

><p>The first house he had to deliver to was Roderich's, the brunette man sitting in the main room of his house on his piano; Elizaveta coming to serve him a cup of tea. Tony walked in, Roderich addressing, "Yes? Oh, is that the thing that will bring me happiness?" Tony nodded before handing Roderich the box. "Hm… Let's see here: Contents – One Happy Box." He opened the large box and took out what looked like a large, blue cube with a black, glass screen.<p>

"That's the Happy Box?" Elizaveta asked, "Doesn't seem all that special." Roderich scoffed as he set it on the bookcase,

"Says the woman who doesn't understand the wonder and worth of money." He turned and patted Tony on the head, "Thank you for your hard work."

* * *

><p>After going back to the Cemetery, Tony carried the next Happy Box to Chineme's Inn. When he got there, Chineme beamed, "Yes, it's here, now!" The earth-toned woman took the Happy Box out and set it on a shelf behind the bar for all to see. "Thank you, oh!" Afterwards, she sighed, "It is strange, but I actually <em>am<em> feeling a bit happier."

* * *

><p>"Oh, hello." Lili greeted Tony as he carried the box inside Vash's house. "Is this the thing that big brother ordered? Oh, but what <em>is<em> it? Will it really bring us happiness?" Nevertheless, Lili took the Happy Box out of its container and set it on the table. Afterwards, she looked at the container it came in and noticed, "This is really sturdy. I could use it to carry the breads and cookies I make." And she did just that, placing a few of the baked goods inside. The delicious smells wafted past Tony's nose and his stomach grumbled. "Oh, I'm sorry! Would you like some bread?" Lili offered a loaf to Tony and the alien took it immediately, wolfing it down out of sheer starvation. Lili giggled, going to get the strange creature a glass of milk and more bread. "I'm glad you like it. Big brother hasn't been home a lot lately, so it's nice having someone enjoy my baking." Tony drank down the milk and nibbles at the second bread loaf, but he blinked at the girl's sad expression. This planet's residents weren't as bad as Ivan and the dog-ear hats made one think, and a lot of them had emotions. He let a small hand pat against the girl's thigh and she smiled, "Thank you."

* * *

><p>The next couple of deliveries were <em>much<em> easier now that Tony had some food in him. And after the last box had been delivered, he rushed back to the Inn to talk to Ivan. But when he walked into the room, the cream-haired man smirked, "25 minutes. Too slow!", before pressing the remote button. Tony seized up in another electric-shock before keeling over. "How long are you going to stay unconscious, we have to get to Gold Feather Castle! Stupid alien…"

* * *

><p>Ivan was happy to see that the barriers to the castle had been broken by the tanks of the dog-ear hats, but he frowned when he saw Tony pick up a <strong>doorknob<strong> from the ground. "Quit playing around!" He gritted out, snatching the doorknob and throwing it into the nearby river. Ivan then dragged Tony in through the front doors of the castle. But it wasn't even two minutes before they saw two women dressed in the dog-ear hat uniform who were panting and whining,

"I can't believe… They beat the homunculus…"

"What kind of… freaks were they?"

"What happened here?" Ivan asked, the two girls shooting up to stand to their feet.

"Sir Ivan!" They saluted, Ivan returning the gesture and asking,

"Well? Did you find it?"

"Well…" One of the girls gulped, the other beginning,

"You see, the thing about that is…"

"You _still_ haven't found it?" Ivan shouted, both girls grabbing onto each other in fear. "Who came through here? Tell me!"

"An old merchant!"

"And a sleepy-looking kid!"

"By the Great Dog King's ears…" Ivan seethed out, rubbing his temples before he sighed and tried to calm himself, "Where are they _now_?"

"I think…" One of the girls began, "They were headed for the other half of the castle."

"_What?_" Ivan snapped, "Why the hell weren't you stopping them?"

"Well, we tried but we were stopped by three guys with freaky powers… They were so scary…" Ivan's eyebrow twitched, Tony stepping a few feet away as the man's aura turned deadly.

"Scary?" He chuckled before his voice turned dark, **"You wish to see something **_**really**_** scary?"** He then roared, his voice shaking the whole castle and shards of ice raining down from the air just from his own power, **"YOU FOOLS! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU MAY HAVE DONE!"**

"It's not our fault!" The girls cried as the ice began creeping up their legs,

"It's the other guys! The ones that blocked us from following them!" Ivan frowned, his aura quickly going back to normal and the ice storm stopping.

"We do not have time this." He sighed, "Where are these 'other guys'?"


	20. Tony Part 3

"PK Fire!" Was the first thing that Ivan heard as the two dog-ear hat girls led him and Tony to where their forces were currently being stopped. He huffed as he saw the three servants of Gold Feather Castle using what little PSI they had been able to learn against the dog-ear hat soldiers.

Finally, after thirty minutes of watching the pitiful display, his eyes went red: a large bolt of lightning crashing down from the air and hitting the three brunettes. Their cries of pain filled the air until they all collapsed, their bodies still smoking from the impact. "Tie them up and bring them here." He commanded, the soldiers doing just that. "A pleasure to meet you three: Antonio, Lovino, and little Feliciano…" Antonio flinched, how did this man know their names? But he stayed quiet, silently vowing not to let these bastards get the castle's treasures or the princes. "Alright, enough chatter: I do not have times to be playing games, so tell me: Where is the Humming Bird Egg?" Antonio stayed silent, Lovino gritted out,

"Fuck off!", and Feliciano muttered,

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Ivan expected as much, so he knelt down and asked in a sweet voice,

"Come now, I do not wish to hurt any of you. Could you please just tell me where I can find what I'm looking for and then I'll be out of your hair?" Feliciano turned towards him, and Ivan thought he would get an admission. But instead, the slim brunette spat in his face; a look of defiance in his eyes.

Ivan frowned as he wiped the mess from his cheek. Then, he gave a vicious slap to Feliciano's face, sending him to the floor before he called out, "Take them away to the prison ship. I will find the treasure myself." As they were being led away, Ivan glared at Antonio: listening to his very thoughts,

"_As long as he doesn't know about the basement, things should be fine…"_

"Thank you my friend!" Ivan smiled, Antonio shouting,

"What?"

"I will be sure to check the basement, as per your advice. Thank you again! Come along Tony…" Ivan could only laugh as the three servants desperately tried to get away from their captors and stop him.

* * *

><p>"This castle is filthy…" Ivan muttered as he and Tony walked through the basement walkways. As they walked, Tony noticed that the walls were engraved with some sort of strange dance steps. He stopped to look at them, Ivan going on further until <em>he<em> stopped at a stone door. "Alright, this is the door we go through. Now how to open it? Dynamite? Fire? Lightning?" Tony walked in front of the door and then…

He began to dance.

At first, Ivan was about to shock him for dancing outside of being told to do so… But after a moment, he could only shake his head at the spastic, hyper movements. And when Tony ended the movements with a spin, he sighed, "I have less respect for you know than I did before. And I had little to none to begin with."

"_Shut up, pupu…"_ Tony rolled his eyes, but his body was seized up in another shock. Just then, the door opened and Ivan smiled,

"Oh good! We can go in, come along stupid alien…"

* * *

><p>Later on, they were both walking through the old, stone bridges suspended above the river that ran underneath the castle. The sight of all the skeletons, human and rat, that were down here were more than unnerving, but Ivan ignored them.<p>

It took a while, but they came to something of interest. It was a lever in the center of all the walkways. "What is this?" He asked, about to pull it before he thought of something. "Stupid alien Tony? Could you come pull this please?" Tony frowned but walked over and pulled the lever down. The whole area shook, Ivan regretting the decision, before the waters around them began to rush out. Along with the waters came the screaming figures of Sadiq, Gilbert, Ludwig, Heracles, and the cats along with the Hummingbird Egg.

"Nyet!" Ivan shouted, "Come back with the Egg! Damn it!" He opened his cellphone and dialed his subordinates, yelling, "Go comb the riverbeds! The intruders have escaped with the item! FIND THEM NOW!" He snapped the phone shut and he sighed, "Not a single useful person here! Let us go back to the Inn."

* * *

><p>But fortune had other ideas, because as they walked towards the drawbridge that led out of the Castle courtyard, the sounds of screeching and screaming could be heard. Ivan rushed over and saw two dog-ear hat generals dressed in blue and clawing at each other's arms and faces, screaming, "You move <em>your<em> tank!"

"_You_ move yours!"

"Would one of you move out of my way..?" Ivan sighed, not in the mood for nonsense.

"You heard him!" One of the generals shouted, "Move!"

"You move! I got here first!"

"Fall back!"

"You fall back!"

"**SHUT UP!"** Ivan roared, slamming his foot to the ground and causing the whole area to shake, "I don't give a damn about any of that! **( 1 )** Both of you, out of my way! **NOW!**" Needless to say, both women got into their tanks and drove out of the way: Ivan walking past. "Just look how late it is now! So stupid!" One of the women got out of her tank and glared at the other,

"It's all your fault, you idiot!"

"He was looking at _you_ when he said that! So you're the idiot, you idiot!"

"I know what you are but what am I?"

"An idiot!"

A large bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and into the river, electrocuting every creature that was swimming in it. Both dog-ear hat generals grabbed each other whimpered at the sight of all the dead, floating animals.

"Both of you idiots go find them! **NOW!"** The two hoped back into their tanks and drove off, trying to desperately find the Hummingbird Egg and remedy Ivan's wrath.

* * *

><p>Ivan was nursing such a bad headache by the time he and Tony finally made it back to town. But his mood immediately turned towards the better when he saw the chaotic scene taking place at the well.<p>

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Vash yelled. There was silence before who should pipe up but Chineme, stating as she held her purse close to herself,

"Look, now: Sadiq and Heracles are both _thieves_! They probably never did anything because they never had anything to steal, oh." She gave Sadiq a nasty glare before adding, "I for one don't want them stealing from me, now!" A few others who knew what money was agreed with the earth-skinned woman before Gilbert stomped up and shouted,

"Alright, listen here you crazy people! Your awesome crown prince is here and –" A stretching creak announced Vash wielding his bow, an arrow ready to be shot.

"Any friend to the thieves is an enemy of mine, so fuck off!"

"All of you calm down!" Everyone turned, some gasping in shock at who had spoken. It was Arthur, accompanied by Kumajirou; the blonde stating, "All this chaos won't help anything; especially with Heracles missing!" The blonde walked over and rested a hand on Sadiq's shoulder, saying, "I don't believe that Heracles did anything. We just have to wait until he comes back."

"My goodness!" Ivan rushed over, worry in his eyes, "I cannot believe that someone would steal the money that I so humbly gave to you, Vash!"

"Mr. Ivan!" Vash rushed over, deseration in his eyes, "Please, I'll give you whatever you want but could you please give me some more money?" Ivan patted the young man's head, smiling,

"Do not worry. I am sure that we can work something out. But I must digress," He sighed, "This town… I'm afraid that it is really becoming cursed… My friends! We must all seek happiness in these dark times! As long as we all stand together, evil will not have a place to run amok…" As Ivan seemed to be luring more and more people into accepting Happy Boxes, Tony looked over towards Gilbert, Arthur, Sadiq, and Ludwig.

Ludwig blinked as he felt Tony's intense stare on him. Red eyes bore into blue, trying to get a message across until Ivan called over, "Tony, are you interested in the young man there? Come now," He went over and pulled Tony away, "I know you want to play, but its lunchtime for you. Let us return to our room." And they walked off, not noticing Ludwig's intense stare.

* * *

><p>"STUPID!" Ivan kicked Tony in his stomach. "STUPID! STUPID!" Two more vicious kicks followed before he pressed the remote button, shocking the alien within an inch of his life. "You still don't understand the situation you're in, do you?" Ivan stomped his steel-toed boot into Tony's stomach, blue blood bubbling up from the creature's lips, "If you try anything funny or disobey me <em>ever<em> again, I…" Kick. "Will…" Kick. "Kill…" Kick. "Both you…" Kick. "And your girlfriend!" Ivan shocked Tony once more before he removed his coat and went to bed. "Now sleep!"

Tony struggled to turn his broken body over onto his stomach, wincing as the pressure shifted to his broken bones. Tears dripped from his eyes from both the physical pain and the anguish that he was in.

'_Am I ever going to be free? If not, I'd rather die… Tina…'_ He looked up at the window, _'I'm so sorry, pupu…'_ He then passed out.

* * *

><p>"..y…" Tony was in a deep, pain-filled sleep. "H…" But something was rousing him from his unconsciousness. He slowly got up, careful not to wake Ivan, and looked around before a voice whispered, "Hey… Little grey guy!" Tony crawled over to the window, which was soon opened from the outside by Sadiq accompanied with Gilbert and Ludwig. "We're here to rescue you!" Gilbert whispered, looking over to Ivan's sleeping form, "That cheap bastard's asleep! <strong>( 2 ) <strong>Come on!" Tony gulped, looking to Ivan and then his potential freedom once…

Twice…

Finally, he summoned up the strength from who knows where and climbed up and out of the window.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**( 1 ) and ( 2 ) are both pieces of dialogue taken from the actual game. **

**PLEASE review. I'm begging! Please? **

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	21. Tony Part 4

Sadiq, the princes, and Tony rushed to the center of town. When they stopped, Sadiq panted out, "You're safe now…" When he straightened himself up, he continued, "Don't know how ya got mixed up with that lie-spewing fraud, but we all have our reasons for things I guess…" Ludwig knelt down besides Tony and took his arms, wincing a bit at the burns before he let his hands run over them, a soft glow emanating forth before the burns healed up. He did the same for the alien's broken ribs before he sighed,

"No creature should be treated like this. I'm sorry, that's all I can do with what little energy I have right now." But Tony was more than grateful, he felt better than he had in the past few days! Sadiq smiled at the two princes, saying,

"This is a great thing you two have done. Now let's go find that lazy ide—I mean, Heracles! And the Egg! I know he's alright, he has to be…" His last few words trailed off, but Gilbert and Ludwig nodded, Gilbert agreeing,

"It'll be alright. I can tell the Heracles is a good kid. He's probably hiding out just in case these dog-ear hat bastards are looking for him. But first," He smiled, "We have to free this guy! Sadiq, go get that zapper-thing from that lying freak while he's asleep!"

"Oh, right!" Sadiq agreed before rushing back to the Inn.

He stuck his head through the window before narrowing his eyes and seeing the remote in Ivan's hands. It took a bit of work, but with a small length of thread and careful aim, he was able to 'fish' it out and reel it towards him without making a single sound: the true mark of an excellent thief. He quickly left the room, not noticing the red eyes snapping open in the darkness…

"I got it!" Sadiq cheered, holding tightly to his heist. But when he got back to the group, he saw Gilbert healing Tony up after he had been electrocuted again. "Oh, did I do that? Sorry." Ludwig took the remote and tossed it to the floor, saying to Tony,

"You destroy it." Tony blinked at the small device that had been torturing him for so long. He narrowed his eyes and jumped on it, cracking it in half but not without it shocking him once more. When the remote was destroyed, Gilbert smiled,

"You're free to go wherever you want now! You're free!" Tony almost felt elated…But his shoulders slumped as he remembered… "What is it? Something keeping you from leaving?"

"Can't you guys read his mind or something?" Sadiq asked, Ludwig shaking his head,

"Nein… Katyusha left us before she could teach us that." Sadiq folded his arms and sighed,

"The only thing that would keep me with a bastard like Ivan is if he had something dear to me. Like a treasure or a girlfriend…" Tony snapped his fingers, pointing at Sadiq when he said that.

"What? He's taken your girlfriend?" Ludwig asked in shock, Gilbert clenching his fist,

"Damn that cheap bastard! He's screwed up in the head!" Suddenly,

"Oh, did you call for me?" They all gasped and turned to see Ivan walking over towards them, malice in his smile and a group of weapon-toting dog-ear hats surrounding him, "I happen to _be_ that screwed up, cheap bastard you're speaking of! **( 1 )**" He chuckled before humming, "To think that I would get to meet you two _here_ of all places, Prince Gilbert and Prince Ludwig. And _you_!" Tony flinched, hiding behind Sadiq, "Stupid alien, did you think that you could run from me?"

"He can and we're helping him!" Sadiq shouted, throwing a smoke-bomb to the ground: the whole area being covered in thick smoke.

"Damn them…" Ivan gritted out as his subordinates started coughing and wheezing. He opened his cell-phone and dialed before stating, "They're heading your way. Don't let them escape. Oh?" He smiled, "Then stand-by, I'll be there shortly." He hung up, sighing: a gust of wind coming to break the smoke away. "No one escapes from me, kolkolkol…"

* * *

><p>"Quick, into the forest!" Sadiq told the princes and their new friend. They all agreed, keeping up their running. Before they found the entrance, they passed Berwald's bell-tower.<p>

"Wow, how long has _that_ been there?" Ludwig asked, impressed with the tower's architecture. He gave a soft laugh as Berwald smiled at the two Princes, Tino waving happily. They passed by the Church and then rushed into the forests.

* * *

><p>They didn't walk for three minutes, before Gilbert groaned: his forehead sweaty, "West, give me your shoulder for a bit."<p>

"Such bad timing…" Ludwig sighed, but helped his PSI-Feverish brother limp along as the group walked through the forest. As they walked, Sadiq gritted his teeth as he noted,

"Damn, they're already here ahead of us!" Indeed, there were tanks all over blocking certain paths from travel.

"We have to…" Gilbert panted, "Find another way through here…"

* * *

><p>But it seemed that no matter where they tried to go, tanks had blockaded all exits and paths from the forests. The only positive in all this was that Gilbert's fever went away. "I think my healing PSI is better now after that!" He smirked, standing on his own two feet.<p>

"Glad to hear it, but we have bigger problems…" Sadiq narrowed his eyes, pointing his cane to where a large, steel behemoth of a tank with the paw-print insignia was rolling towards them. They were about to run for it, but five dog-ear hats surrounded the area: guns at the ready.

"We're surrounded…" Gilbert gave a nervous chuckle. The top hatch of the tank opened, a dog-ear hat woman stating,

"Target acquired. Initiating attack sequence in three… two…" She hopped back in, closing the hatch. The tank rushed forward, Ludwig yelling,

"Brace yourselves!"

The tank rushed forward and everyone jumped out of the way. While it had to turn around, Ludwig called out, "Psychokinesis – Thunder!" Gilbert adding,

"PK Thunder!" Clouds rumbled overhead before two bolts of lightning struck down and hit the tank, causing it to spin for a bit. Sadiq reached into his pocket and found a Running bomb and threw it, the bomb rushing across the ground before it exploded on contact with the machine.

The tank, however, sped forward and crashed into Ludwig: sending the teen flying. "West!" Gilbert shouted, Sadiq throwing a Thunder bomb at the tank. Tony rushed over to see if the blonde was alright, but just then the gun on the tank aimed for Gilbert and Sadiq.

"Fire!" The girl in the tank shouted, a rush of fire and lightning shooting from the barrel. The two had to desperately jump out of the way to avoid being scalded to death, but Gilbert still suffered a nasty burn to his legs and feet.

"Fuck, it hurts to stand!" He shouted in pain as he desperately tried to get up. The tank rushed forward again, determined to flatten the weakened group into bloody paste and bone. But suddenly, Tony jumped up and landed on the window of the tank.

"What the hell are you doing?" The girl inside screamed, driving the tank in circles, back and forth, to try and get the alien off. But Tony stayed strong, smiling as the tank drove into a tree, then a boulder, then another tree: sustaining heavy damage. The tank finally shook Tony off. Ludwig being able to catch him just before he hit the ground.

"Good job little grey guy!" Gilbert laughed. They all watched as the tank began spinning violently, a huge plume of black smoke belching out before the hatch was opened: the driver yelling,

"Damn you all to hell!", before she threw a bomb at the group. They easily dodged it before Ludwig and Gilbert both called out,

"PK THUNDER!" A large bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking both the driver and the tank. It was so intense that the girl passed out, blood dribbling from her lips, before the tank blew up into a massive explosion.

"Shit!" One of the dog-ear hat soldiers gulped as Sadiq, Gilbert, and Ludwig walked towards them.

"Not so tough without your stupid machine, are you?" Gilbert laughed, despite his burns. Tony stayed back, content to watch the scene. But he gulped when he felt a familiar presence. The alien rushed over to Ludwig, the younger prince looking over and frowning,

"We're not done yet…" Sadiq and Gilbert turned to see Ivan and his subordinates marching forward, another tank riding up behind them.

"Well shit…" Gilbert smirked, "Any ideas?" Ivan was about to order his troops to attack when footsteps could be heard. Everyone looked over and Sadiq gasped as he saw little, eight year-old Matthew walking over. But Ivan blinked and walked over, whispering,

"What are you doing here?" Matthew flinched as Ivan grabbed him by the arm, his red eyes glaring into Matthew's amethyst. But he soon saw that he wasn't getting the response he wanted, so he tossed the boy aside and huffed, "My mistake. Just a little wretch wanting to die." The dog-ear hats all aimed their guns at Matthew, Gilbert shouting,

"Move kid!" But Matthew calmly closed his eyes and whistled. Soon, a baby serpa (the same baby serpa he had seen those three years ago) jumped up behind him. The dog-ear hats kept jeering Matthew, threatening to shoot him and his friend, but Ivan's violet eyes went wide and he gasped,

"By the great Dog King's ears! Get out of here, both of you! Before you start attracting trouble!" The baby serpa began crying out, calling for help, causing Ivan to growl, "Fine then. You wish to play around?" His hand began crackling with electricity as he clenched it into a fist behind his back. Just as he took a step forward, the ground shook. "Oh no…"

Everyone could only watch as a pack of adult serpas, including the mecha-serpa mother that had almost been killed by Arthur, stomped forward. She roared out before her mate stormed forward and ripped into two of the dog-ear hats: screams flowing freely like their blood on the grass. Matthew called out,

"The ones with the dog-ears and the one with the scarf are the enemy! GO!" The serpas all roared before attacking with full-force. Ivan could only watch as his subordinates were ripped apart limb by limb, his tanks stomped and crushed like flowers. The survivors began running for their lives, Ivan shouting,

"Get back here! They are only dumb animals, FIGHT BACK!" Hot, heavy breaths panted behind him: forcing his hair back and forth with every breath. "Oh shit…" He whispered, turning back to see the mecha-serpa glaring at him. Gilbert laughed,

"Kesesese! Look like the glove is on the other hand, huh bastard?" Ivan was about to attack, but the mecha-serpa roared and seized his arm: using the grip to send the man screaming in agony flying away. When the deed was done, the serpas all roared and growled in victory before rushing away. However, the mecha-serpa and the baby serpa stayed behind to nuzzle Matthew, the blonde whispering,

"Thank you." They left soon after. When the commotion had settled, Sadiq turned to Matthew and said,

"Matthew! I heard that you'd done nothing but cry since Francis passed away. But what you did now… That was wonderful."

"Not just wonderful," Matthew yelped as Gilbert clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Fucking awesome!" Gilbert laughed for a moment before he noticed the younger boy's terrified gaze. "Oh, right. Gotta say hi. I'm Prince Gilbert, the more awesome of the Gold Feather princes. And this loser over here is my brother Ludwig."

"A pleasure." Ludwig sighed, Matthew nodding,

"Nice to meet you.", before he discretely parted himself from Gilbert's grasp. "Mr. Sadiq, what's going on?" Sadiq sighed,

"It's a long story, but will you listen?" Matthew nodded, "Okay, it goes like this…"

* * *

><p>"My God…" Matthew whispered as Sadiq finished his story two hours later, "Do you need my help? Maybe if I go with you, I can find Alfred too!"<p>

"No Matthew," Sadiq shook his head, "No, you stay here in Mirror Falls. I'm sure Alfred will come back sooner or later. You and your dad have to help protect this village from those foreign devils!" He sighed, standing up, "I'll be here to help too, what little I can. Gilbert, Ludwig!"

"Yes?" Ludwig replied, Sadiq adding on,

"I leave our little grey friend here… and the search for my idiot in your hands.

"Sure thing old man!" Gilbert smiled as Ludwig hefted Tony up on his back. But before they made to leave, he turned back to Matthew. "Hey… Thanks again."

"No problem…" Matthew shook his head, "Helping our fellow man is a way of life… That's what my grandfather taught me."

"Still…" The albino hummed, "I get the feeling I'll be seeing you again someday." He smirked before pressing his lips against Matthew's, the blonde sputtering with a face as red as his cloak,

"Wha… What… Huh?"

"Take care of yourself!" Gilbert laughed before stating, "Come on West!" The princes and the alien left, leaving a stressed merchant and a confused blonde in their wake amongst all the tumult and chaos that was now surrounding them.

* * *

><p><strong>( 1 ) - From Gilbert's line above to what Ivan said, ripped straight from the game. Isn't Mother 3's realistic dialogue more fun than what NOA usually shoves down our throats?<strong>


	22. Tony End

_Mirror falls is now transforming exactly as the newly-come wanderer has planned… _

"Damn them, damn them, damn them!" Ivan roared as he came out of a revitalizing-machine in the subterranean tunnels, the wounds on his hand gone like they were never even there. Ivan sighed before a smile grew on his face, "No matter. Plenty more soldiers where those came from. And besides…" He chuckled, "Now more people want to be _happy_ more than ever… Speakin of which…" He grabbed his coat and prepared to drive back to Mirror Falls.

_Only a handful of villagers realize that things that were good and right are being tossed away one after another…_

"And with this…" Ivan explained as he activated the Happy Box in Chineme's Inn with the touch of a button. Colorful images and happy music began streaming forth, everyone 'oohing' and 'awing'.

Except for Elizaveta who was sitting at a corner table with Lili as everyone else went gaga over the device. "I still don't see what's so special about it…" Lili silently agreed, but her big brother loved having the thing in their house, so who was she to say anything.

_Although prosperity is increasing, an eerie darkness seems to be growing heavier over the village at the same time… _

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Vash smiled as Ivan gave him another bag of money in exchange for another group of dogs. Ivan smiled,

"No problem my friend… No problem at all…"

_However, within that darkness, a frail, young boy grows even stronger… _

Matthew walked home, still filled with energy from that fight against the dog-ear hats. As he walked into his family's farmyard, he noticed that one of the horses had gotten loose. He was about to go tell Arthur, but then he thought otherwise.

_Soon, Matthew will repaint this tale of sadness with a bright, new color… _

The small blonde helped lead the frazzled horse into the barnyard, tying its reign to the stablel before saying, "There, that's better isn't it?" He patted the horses knee and whispered, "Don't worry, everything will be alright..."

_The deeper the darkness, the brighter the surprise at dawn and the once-coddled Matthew is on his way to becoming a bright, brilliant, young sun…_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And the Tony saga is done! Thank God... Now, we can see where the tide of this story is going to take us? The strange wanderer Ivan isn't as kind as he had everyone think, huh? And Matthew's finally back in the picture because, guess what? **

**From the next chapter on we'll be in Matthew's point of view. Yay! **

**Please review, and thanks for reading! * bows * **

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	23. Matthew Part 1

**A/N: I suppose I can add a little bit to this story. I mean, hardly anyone reviews on it, but I guess I can keep it going.**

* * *

><p><em>Young Alfred panted as he ran towards the forests, his father's trusty carving knife on his back and sweat dripping down his forehead. He was just about to walk in when a voice called, <em>

"_Alfred!" He turned and saw his baby brother, exhausted as he tried to catch up. "Please! Let me come with you!" Alfred gave a sad smile, shaking his head before he called back, _

"_Go home Matthew." Afterwards, he rushed into the dark wood; Matthew desperately trying to follow but tripping over a rock. _

"_Ow!" He cried as his cheek scratched against the ground. He coughed out before calling out to his brother's fleeting image, "Alfred, come back!" Alfred ran on. "Please, wait for me!"_

* * *

><p>"Alfred… Please come back…" An older, more mature voice whispered in the darkness; the sound of rustling sheets accompanying it.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Beep. <em>

_Beep. _

_Beep. _

_Hm..? Where… Am I? _

"_Is this body even still alive? I'm not going to waste money on playing with a corpse!"_

"_Calm yourself, your majesty… He is alive, if not barely…" _

_What is this..? It hurts… I can't feel my body, all I feel… Is pain… _

"_Well did you check him? What if he isn't compatible?" _

"_One moment please." _

_Whirring noises pierced the air, followed by the sounds of bubbles gurgling through liquid. Exhausted eyes opened up to find themselves surrounded by a sticky, off-green liquid. _

_What's going on? Where… Somebody help me!_

_A bright light flashed before a series of equations and unfamiliar words appeared on a nearby screen. There was a dark chuckle, "The body is perfectly accustomed for the introduction of the new mind."_

"_Perfect… Well, go on then! Get to work!" _

"_**With… pleasure…"**__ And after that, drills and syringes began forcing their ways through the liquid and in through skin and flesh, completely ignoring the mental screams of agony they induced. And then the whirring of the rotary-saw came closer, closer until…_

* * *

><p>With a sharp gasp, a figure shot up from his bed clutching at his chest as he tried to regain his breathing. Wavy blonde hair with a peculiar double-curl shifted as the figure stood from his bed onto shaky limbs and moved towards his bedroom door. It was then that the whole building shook, struck by some unknown force. "Damn!" The blonde whispered as he rushed out of the house.<p>

As soon as he got outside, the early morning sunlight shining on his fair skin, showing the body of a young man (around eighteen) with wavy blonde hair that shined in the light and amethyst eyes that squinted as he saw what had happened.

Something had struck the barn of the farm he lived on: the building now torn apart into smoking pieces and the animals rushing about in a panic. "Wait, stop!" He tried to rush after them, able to catch the horse's reigns before he went after the others.

Luckily, a mass of white fur soon came along to help. Kumajirou growled at the other animals, gathering them closer to the blonde male before he called out, "All of you, calm down!" One of the sheep looked to the blonde and baaed, her thoughts sounding out in the blonde's mind like human speech,

"_Be calm? When fire and light shoot down from the sky? You must be baa-ty!"_ The blonde sighed as most of the other animals had similar thoughts. A soft breeze of wind flew by, grass and leaves caught in it. The blonde took one of the leaves before pressing it to his lips and blowing into it: a simple, yet beautiful melody coming forth.

It echoed through the wind, all the animals immediately feeling a soothing effect as they all sat down around their caretaker.

A moment later, still whistling the tune that Francis used to sing so many years ago, Matthew sat down along with them: the music giving him a rare moment of peace as it was played.

* * *

><p>Matthew went back inside to get dressed, so he could properly assess the damage to the barn. He opened up his closet, pulling out a simple red and white sweater and burgundy work pants. As he walked to the bathroom for a bath, he stopped for a moment when he passed the shelf where Alfred's shoe and the scrap of cloth from Francis's clothes rested in a type of small shrine: courtesy of Arthur.<p>

After the bath, he got dressed in front of a full-length mirror (one of Francis's favorite items) and, despite himself, found his eyes trapped in his reflection. If it weren't for his eyes, he could have been looking at a younger version of his Maman…

"_Oh mon coeur…" Francis sighed as he brushed Matthew's hair, counting out the number to himself, "I know you would rather play with your brother, but one day you shall thank me for this, oui?" _

"_Oui Maman…" Matthew sighed, flinching as the brush accidentally caught that one curl._

"Let's see…" Matthew sighed, placing a pair of glasses onto his face. Jeanne had to get them made for him because his eyes had gotten so sensitive over the past few years. "Okay, let's go check the barn again." He walked out of his room, almost about to call out for Arthur before he remembered that his father was almost never home.

* * *

><p>"It's been completely destroyed…" Matthew whispered, picking up remaining bits and pieces of wood. He gathered what he could into a pile before he sighed, "I just have to rebuild it then… Oh…" He groaned, "All by myself…"<p>

"_No nails…"_ That came from Kumajirou, causing Matthew to turn and call back,

"Are you serious? Damn…" He rubbed his temples, not liking the options he had in the least. He _had_ to rebuild the barn, otherwise the animals wouldn't have a place to sleep. But… "I don't want to go into town…" Kumajirou yawned and waddled over, nipping at Matthew's ankle,

"_I'll take you…"_ Matthew could only chuckle, patting the bear's head,

"Thanks Kuma. Well, no time like the present…" He and Kumajirou began to walk out of the farm-gates when he heard a voice say,

"_Matthew! Boy, come over here!"_

"Monsieur Grenouille?" Matthew blinked, looking around until he saw a green frog hopping over with some sort of card in its mouth. "How are you this morning?"

"_I have been better. It's harder to find a place to rest now more than ever… But enough about me, you know for a fact that if you go into town you _need_ this!"_ Monsieur Grenouille was the patriarch of the few frogs that remained around Mirror Falls now of days. He always seemed to pop up in the most random places to help Matthew out with bits of information.

Now of days, he _really_ needed the help.

Matthew frowned and took the card that had a picture of a dragon coiled around a paw-print on it. This was the commerce-card for people now, gone were the days of bartering and neighbors giving things out of the kindness of their hearts.

"But I _hate_ using money," Matthew shook his head, holding the DragonScale Card in his hand, "Why do I need some card to tell me how much I have? I _know_ how much I have!" The frog only croaked back, speaking in Matthew's mind,

"_That's just how things are now, ribbit."_ The frog stretched his limbs before adding, _"And you also get rewarded for doing things like handling wild animals or working and—"_

"Fine, enough." Matthew sighed, "I guess I need it to buy the nails I need to fix the barn." The blonde stood to his feet and tried to walk towards the town. But not even a few minutes later, he frowned as he saw a group of people standing around, taking pictures and gossiping,

"This is the infamous lightning house of Mirror Falls!"

"Such a sight!"

Now, Matthew wasn't rude: his parents and aunt had taught him better than that. But he was getting agitated by these people treating his misfortune like a show. He flinched as he noted that there was a woman in a dog-ear hat conducting the tour. Upon seeing Matthew, she huffed, "It seems a certain _someone_ must really like being unhappy if you refuse to buy a Happy Box after this!"

"Okay," Matthew narrowed his eyes, "Since when do you need a box to make you happy?"

The dog-ear hat woman flinched, thinking for a moment before she yelled, "Shut up! And get out of here, you're interrupting the tour!" Kumajirou growled a bit but Matthew shook his head, leaving the area.

* * *

><p>"<em>This stuff hurts my feet…"<em>Kumajirou whined as his feet hit the asphalt street, Matthew nodding,

"I know, I'm sorry…" He walked forward a bit, wincing at the sight of the village that had been his home. A loud whistle echoed through the air as a train pulled into the train station that had been built in front of the town. People filed out as the train doors opened, all of them dressed in orange jumpsuits.

A few of them greeted Matthew as he and Kumajirou walked through the streets. Gone were the simple wooden cottages and instead, most of the houses were built from concrete and steel: neighbors constantly adding onto their homes to one-up each other.

As they walked past the center of Mirror Falls, Matthew couldn't help but look and see Ivan spreading another message of his supposed 'happiness' to the villagers.

"And remember my friends," The cream-haired man began as the two dog-ear hat girls behind him held up Happy Box containers, "That upon bringing a Happy Box into your homes, you are helping your village on its way to experiencing true happiness!"

"And upon getting a Happy Box," One of the girls behind him stated, "You'll get a nice coupon book for discounts on all of your purchases from the Caninus Catalogue!"

"Buy, buy, and buy some more!" The other girl chimed, the other villagers immediately discussing what they would buy once the latest issues of the catalogues were delivered to their homes. All except Matthew. Ivan noticed this and jumped down from his podium, walking over.

"You are mute, da?" Ivan asked the teenager as he rested a hand on his shoulder.

"No. I'm just not interested in all the things you guys talk about." Matthew replied, causing Ivan to chuckle,

"But whenever you _do_ talk, your voice is so quiet!" The two stood there in the center of town for a quiet moment. Suddenly, Ivan's eyes shined red before he grabbed at Matthew's hair; pulling harshly.

Matthew yelped at the pain but was soon silenced by a voice. The voice was only in his mind, however, and it hissed, _**"Hideous… Hideous… Hideous… You shouldn't even have hair like this… this… this… It should burn… You should burn… Die… Die… D..I..E…"**_ In an instant, Ivan shoved Matthew away; the blonde hitting the floor before the strange man turned and said,

"Comrades! Let us speak more of the happiness that the great Dog Empire has to offer, da?" The crowd of people all murmured in agreement before they followed Ivan, leaving Matthew to get up on his own.

When his heart stopped racing from what that… _voice_ had said, he was able to gain his balance. There was another whistle in the air: another train had come into the depot.

* * *

><p>After leaving the store (which used to be Sadiq's property but Vash had taken over these past few years), Matthew and Kumajirou sat on the bench near the train depot, the blonde wanting to say hello to a few people who had come home from work.<p>

Work… The only way to get a suitable amount of money now of days seemed to be to work at the homunculus factory at the end of the train tracks. Hence, a lot of people from Mirror Falls woke up at six in the morning to catch the train to the facility.

The train doors opened, Richard walking out accompanied by another villager who scoffed, "Come on, give it a rest!"

"Think about it though," Richard insisted, "No one's seen any trace of Heracles since ten years ago! It _has_ to be him!" He looked over and greeted, "Hey Matthew! How has Arthur been?"

"He left to search the mountains for Alfred again this morning." Matthew replied, truthfully, solemnly. "But what were you talking about? Something about Heracles?"

"Oh, yes." Richard cleared his throat, "Behind the factory, there's a nightclub called Club Amoresque. Every night after work is done for the day, the band _Bangles_ plays and their tambourine-player looks _just like Heracles_! I was actually thinking of telling Sadiq –"

"No!" The other villager insisted, "We don't even know for sure! Just leave it alone! Anyway," They yawned, "Time to go home for some chow in front of the Happy Box!"

"I hear that!" Richard agreed before saying a quick goodbye to Matthew and walking off. Kumajirou waddled close to Matthew's leg and nudged his head against it, murmuring,

"_Can we go home now?"_ The blonde was about to agree when there was a sudden commotion from the center of town.

By the time Matthew had rushed over, he saw the two girls who were accompanying Ivan now cowering behind him, the cream-haired man slowly shaking his head as two dog-ear hats dragged away a familiar face. "Sadiq!" Matthew cried out. The former merchant's eyes were filled with rage and fury as he fought against his restraints and shouted,

"IVAN! Quit ruining this town more than you already have! Let go of me!"

"Sadiq, my friend," Ivan called back as he was trying to reassure his assistants, "If you keep on ranting and raving in this foolish manner, happiness will only escape you, yes?"

"SHOVE IT!" Sadiq snapped back but just as it seemed that he was about to break free, one of the dog-ear hats slammed their elbow into the back of his head and dragged his unconscious body away.

"Wait!" Matthew shouted, rushing after the group. Out of nowhere, a spark of energy on the ground caused him to trip and fall.

"Matthew…" Ivan shook his head, "You really must watch where you're going…"

"_Like you didn't just cause that!"_ Kumajirou growled in Ivan's direction, Ivan replying telepathically,

"_Quiet yourself, stupid animal!"_

"Kuma, no…" Matthew hefted his friend up into his arms before he walked away in the direction that Sadiq had been dragged.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, so we're just going to hit the ground running with this. Matthew is around... 18 here and we can see that things have basically gone to shit! Well, read on!**

**-Tyranno's girl.  
><strong>


	24. Matthew Part 2

When Mirror Falls began this strange, unique change, it seemed that the elderly were the first to suffer. Sadiq had suffered the most: as if losing Heracles wasn't enough, Vash had taken his store and his home had been transformed into a building that seemed to be the epitome of a prison.

The dog-ear hats insisted that it was a home for the elderly, where the older residents could stay without worrying about being too much of a burden.

But as Matthew walked up to the tall, imposing, grey-painted building with its barbed-wire fences… It filled him with such a sense of despair: as if this wasn't a place to live…

But a place for people to die.

* * *

><p>Kumajirou whined as they walked into the Elder's Home, the walls moldy and damp; the nurses gossiping amongst themselves rather than caring to do their jobs; the residents vegetating in their chairs. The whole place seemed absolutely dismal…<p>

Wait, was that..?

"Matthieu?" Jeanne asked as she walked out from the main hall as she thought she saw a familiar face. Matthew smiled,

"Aunt Jeanne!", before he walked up and hugged the woman, asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Lili made some cookies and bread for the people here," Jeanne began, "But Vash demanded that she watch the store today, so she asked me to bring them." She gave a wistful sigh before her eyes blinked and she stated, out of the blue,

"I had a strange dream the other day… The man who used to always ring the bell and his partner were in it. I wonder what has become of them." Matthew was quiet as he realized that Jeanne was right. Ever since the changes began those ten years ago, Berwald and Tino were nowhere to be seen… It was so strange, like they had been _whisked away_ in the dead of night… "But why is it that you have come here?"

"I wanted to see if Sadiq was alright," Matthew explained, "There was an… altercation in town today…"

"I see…" Jeanne sighed before nodding, "I will leave you to it then. Oh, but since I caught up to you…" She reached into her bag and held out a package, "I made this for you; your old sweater must be getting worn out by now!" Matthew gladly took the package and placed it into his bag, thanking his aunt before she made her departure.

He then walked down the dusty, cold hall to see Sadiq.

* * *

><p>"LET ME OUT!" That was the first thing that Matthew heard as he walked into the room. He flinched upon seeing that Sadiq had been chained to the wall, a precaution against him getting out again.<p>

"Sadiq! Hold on, let me see if I can help" The blonde began. But Sadiq shook his head,

"Those dog-eared bastards and those whore nurses have the keys… But _please_…" He glared a pained look towards the blaring Happy Box on the room's desk, "_Turn… it… off!"_ Matthew nodded, walking over and flicking the switch on the shining machine off. Sadiq immediately let out a sigh of relief, "Thank God for you Matthew…"

"Sadiq…" Matthew began, sitting on the thread-bare bed and holding Kumajirou in his lap, "There's something I need to tell you." Sadiq cricked his neck before saying,

"Shoot."

"My uncle Richard came back from working at the factory today—"

"Came back from selling his soul you mean…" Sadiq gritted out but he cut himself off and let Matthew continue,

"And he was talking… About how at the 'nightclub' they have… There is someone who looks exactly… like… Heracles." He slowly said the last few words, not sure of the reaction he would get. But Sadiq gasped, his eyes going wide before he whispered out, his words hollow with disbelief,

"Someone… who looks exactly like Heracles? Could he still be..?" He was quiet for a minute before he looked up and beckoned Matthew over. When the blonde was close enough, he whispered, "I'm going to whisper this in case any of those whore-nurses are listening in: Please… Could you please go and see if this look-alike is my lazy cat-lover or not? I would go but that bastard Ivan is having his cronies keep me here; I can't go _anywhere_! Please…" Kumajirou blinked as a single tear cascaded from the former-merchant's eye, "_Please_…"

Matthew waited for a moment before he nodded. Sadiq smiled, "Thank you." He looked towards the window and clicked his tongue a few times before a pigeon flew in and rested on the desk. "If you do find him, send this pigeon back to me with a letter containing all the details." The pigeon flew over and landed on Matthew's shoulder, mentally cooing,

"_It will be a pleasure to work with you, coo-coo!"_ The blonde smiled before looking to Sadiq and stating,

"You can count on me Sadiq." He then helped the brunette get a drink of water before he left the room. He visited his grandfather's room before he left the building: a new mission driving him along.

Matthew was determined to go find Heracles for Sadiq. He just needed to go to one particular place before setting out on this new journey…

* * *

><p>Sunset Cemetery… It still hadn't gotten any more welcoming since Arthur buried Francis here ten years ago. Matthew shivered as he and Kumajirou walked through the rows of tombstones, crows crying out as they flew past.<p>

The blonde finally reached the lone cliff that over-looked the town of Mirror Falls. But he found that he wasn't by himself. Arthur was sitting there, a bouquet of roses in his hand before he flinched: noticing someone behind him.

"Oh, Matthew…" Arthur sighed as he stood up from the grave, "It's been a while, you should talk to your mother."

"Yes sir." Matthew solemnly nodded as his father moved aside. He knelt down in front of the gravestone and shut his eyes. It wasn't long before memories of the past began to flood into his mind…

* * *

><p><em>The wind rolled against the grassy green fields surrounding Mirror Falls. In the middle of the fields of tall grasses, Francis sat with Matthew in his lap and Alfred picking at the grass beside them, Kumajirou lazily chasing butterflies around them. After a moment, Alfred found a perfect blade of grass and handed it to Francis, who smiled before pressing it to his lips and blowing out a sweet melody that carried across the breeze. Its calming notes had a relaxing effect on all the animals around, each stopping what they were doing to listen. <em>

_And the two young twins laughed before hugging the older blonde tight, almost as if they never wanted to let go…_

* * *

><p>Matthew opened his eyes, trudging back to the present as he read the gravestone:<p>

_Francis Bonnefoy_

_Tender to roses, _

_Lover of all, _

_Mother to the twins Alfred and Matthew, _

_Dearest to Arthur Kirkland. _

_May God watch over this gentle soul for all eternity._

He turned around and saw that Arthur had left, no doubt to look for Alfred. But he finally decided that he had spent enough time for himself. "Let's go back to town Kuma."

"_Back to that cold, hard asphalt."_ The polar bear replied, Matthew agreeing,

"Right, let's go."

* * *

><p>They went straight to the train depot, Matthew figuring that they might as well walk through the caves that the trains moved through. Before he could move, however, a voice called out,<p>

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" The blonde and the polar bear both turned to see a large black man with his hair cut into a Mohawk-style and golden chains resting on his neck. "Hey," The mohawked man began **( 1 )**, "I don't know what reasons you got, but you want to get through this tunnel, right?"

"Yes sir." Matthew nodded.

"Well, I ain't gonna try and stop ya," The man began again, "But you should really take this!" He tossed a folded piece of paper towards Matthew before explaining, "It's a map of the railroad system! But, let me ask ya: You know what the scariest things in those tunnels are?" Matthew raised his hand to answer but the mohawked man shook his head, "No, not muttshrooms or slitherhens… The answer is trains! You better be careful not to get hit by any train, you dig? I pity the fool who lets himself get hit by a train!" And then he left, leaving Matthew and Kumajirou to walk into the darkness beyond.

The cavern was dark, moisture collecting on the walls. Matthew probably wouldn't have been able to see if it weren't for the lights that had been installed. Lucky they were because there were peculiar creatures wandering about in the darkness.

Snakes with the heads of chickens, walking mushrooms… As weird as they were, they were the tamer of the new fauna that had been sprouting up since the dog ear-hats had taken over.

But they seemed to sense Matthew's pacifism, so they went on about their own business: clucking, hissing, and… mushrooming through the darkness.

Shielding his eyes from the sudden burst of light, Matthew slowly walked out of the tunnels: keeping a fair but close distance from the train tracks. He took a deep inhale of the fresh, mountain air: appreciating the difference of serenity between here and Mirror Falls. He was about to keep on walking when Kumajirou growled and rushed off. "Kumajirou, come back!" Matthew called out as he gave chase. But the polar bear didn't stop or look back until he stopped at a ladder that led up the side of a small cliff. The bear sniffed at something before sitting down, waiting for Matthew to make his way over.

When the young blonde walked closer, he saw what appeared to be strange, green, feminine clothing lying abandoned on the ground. "Um…" He gulped, a blush appearing on his face as the connotation of what this could mean drifted through his mind. But he soon thought, "If it were me, I wouldn't want my clothes to be taken by an animal or something…"

He gathered up the clothes and, taking a deep breath, moved up the ladder: Kumajirou struggling to follow him. When the made it up, they saw a small hot spring: the heat from the waters reaching over to them. But they also saw what, from behind, looked like a woman with wavy, brown hair relaxing in the water.

"E-Excuse me?" Matthew asked gently, not wanting to shock her. But when the figure turned around, Matthew was shocked to find that:

One, this was no woman.

And two, the figure screaming, "Aah! You caught me stark-naked in here!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Matthew yelped, about to rush down the ladder when the figure blinked and asked,

"Wait, aren't you the boy that came to Pol's house ten years ago?" Matthew flinched. Did this person know about Alfred? "Remember, you said you were going to the Serpa Plateau to avenge your mother?"

"I'm sorry," Matthew began, remembering the shattering effect that day had had on their family, "That was my brother Alfred. My name's Matthew."

"Really?" The brunette hummed, looking at the waters, "How odd… Anyway, forgive my rudeness! I'm Liet, one of the Magypsies. Come on in, regain some of your strength from your travels!"

Before Matthew could even say anything, Kumajirou jumped into the spring and began floating on his back. The blonde nodded, slowly removing his clothes and revealing soft, fair skin before he slipped into the warm, soothing waters. "It's really nice here…" He commented. Liet nodded,

"Isn't it though?" While they lounged in silence for a bit, a few butterflies floated in with the breeze and landed on the ledges around them: their gossamer wings shimmering in the sunlight. "This is a Magic Butterfly colony." Liet explained, "It's good to come here after wearing yourself out from PSI use…"

"PSI?" Matthew asked, washing his face.

"Oh, you've never heard of it?" Liet asked, looking at the youth in front of him. "That's strange, you have a powerful aura about you. In fact," He moved back a bit, "Come over here for a sec."

"Okay…" Matthew moved over, turning around when Liet gestured for him to do so. "What are we doing?" He didn't see the little smile the appeared on Liet's face as he muttered,

"Just… endure it for a bit."

Before he could do or say anything, Matthew was suddenly forced underneath the spring waters. "Don't struggle!" Liet gritted out as he tried to keep the blonde from lashing his arms. Kumajirou immediately growled and tried swimming over to help his master, but he felt himself being pulled back by a peculiar green energy. **( 2 )**

Matthew, on the other hand, was still desperately trying to save himself, especially when he felt himself losing air. "Just a little more…" He heard Liet say. It was right when he felt the last of his oxygen fade away that Matthew felt something well up inside of him. He narrowed his eyes before a wave of rose-shaded energy shot from his body and forced Liet away from his body all the way into a wall of rock, leaving a dent.

When he was free, Matthew shot up from the water: taking a series of much needed breaths, oxygen rushing back to his brain. But, something was… different. He felt a sort of power deep inside of him, from within his heart.

"Oh… oh my goodness…" He turned towards where Liet was picking his nude self up from the broken wall.

"What the hell was _that_ for?" The wavy-haired blonde snapped, Liet holding his hands up in defense,

"Sorry, but it was the only way to unlock the potential PSI deep inside you. But I'm in awe…" The brunette looking up, his face red, "You were able to make a Magypsie blush! I can't believe it: you can use PK Love!"

"PK Love?" Matthew asked, looking at his hands, "Was that what happened just now?" The water rippled as Liet moved back in, smiling,

"You sly dog, that's one of the two techniques that not even Magypsies can use!"

"_Hey!"_ Matthew turned to see Kumajirou paddling over, _"Are you okay?"_ Matthew slowly nodded, trying to get a hold on the feelings coursing through his body.

After a few more minutes of soaking and Liet explaining exactly what he could expect with his new power, Matthew was getting dressed. Liet, still soaking, spoke up, "Keep an eye out for me, we may meet again, okay?" Matthew smiled, picking up Kumajirou, before he spoke,

"Thank you Liet. And I will.", before he moved down the ladder.

* * *

><p><strong>( 1 ) In this part of Mother 3, there is actually a character who bears a strong resemblance to Mr. T.<strong>

**( 2 ) This actually happens in the game. Among gamers who know and love the Mother series, this scene is one of the most traumatizing and hilarious out of any Nintendo game… The only recent ones that come close are all the potential 'rape' scenes by Ghirahim in Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. **

**Well, I'll keep this update at that. If it was readable, leave a comment! Thanks for reading!  
><strong>

**-Tyranno's girl.  
><strong>


	25. Matthew Part 3

**A/N: Alright peeps, here's an update of this fic, ya dig? **

…

**Okay, I don't know what the hell all of that was. Here's the update. **

**Disclaimer- Same as the first.**

* * *

><p>The rest of the trip, thankfully, took place outside. However, there proved to be more strange creatures here. And they weren't that friendly.<p>

Like the half-dog half-mushroom hybrid that was currently biting and scratching with Kumajirou. Matthew didn't want to hurt any animal, no matter how strange they were, but he couldn't let his only friend be killed because of his pacifist ways. And, thankfully, he saw an abandoned stick that seemed to be pretty sturdy a while's away…

The muttshroom gave a pained yelp as Matthew smacked it away with the stick, quickly helping Kumajirou to his feet and rushing off to avoid anymore fighting.

"'We are increasing the number of cattlesnakes'," Matthew read out from a sign that had been planted into the ground recently. He and Kumajirou had made it through the mountains, the blonde glad to be out in an open space again. But the sign had caught his attention. "'If you see one, please stay away for your own safety. – The Chimera Laboratory'." He flinched when he felt something licking at his sweater and when he turned, he saw what looked like a cow with an elongated, scaly, green neck.

To say that he was scared in that instant would have been an understatement, but the creature just kept nuzzling him with her nose. Matthew decided to try something again. Carefully, and _very_ gently, he pressed his palm against the cattlesnake's cheek before speaking, the words echoing telepathically, _"Can you hear me? Can you understand me?"_ To his relief, the cattlesnake nodded and replied,

"_You smell nice. You're not from around here, are you?"_ Matthew sighed and shook his head before sitting down on a pile of lumber, the cattlesnake following him. The blonde took out his mother's sketchbook and, before he realized, was drawing pictures of everything he had encountered on his way here: the walking mushrooms, the slitherhens, the muttshroom, and when he finished his sketch of the cattlesnake, she looked over and hissed/mooed, _"Is that me?"_

"Oh, um, yes." Matthew nodded, the cattlesnake giving a happy hiss/moo before she found herself distracted by a fresh patch of grass. Matthew sighed, that experience had his heart pounding. But at least it seemed like the cattlesnakes wouldn't harm him if he didn't harm them.

"_Hey!"_ He turned around seeing Kumajirou pawing at a concrete wall, trying to reach the sign that was plastered on it. Matthew walked over and read,

"'Work a Noble Sweat for the Great Canine Empire! Inquire about employment today!'"

"This must be where everyone in town is spending their days…" Matthew whispered as he looked through the open gate and saw a few people dressed in orange work-suits.

"Hey, you heading over to Amoresque after your shift tonight?" One of the asked the other. Matthew keyed in on the word 'Amoresque', gesturing for Kumajirou to follow as he walked into what seemed to be a large warehouse.

* * *

><p>It almost felt like his ears would start bleeding at any moment due to the thundering noise of the warehouse. Large, massive turbines rapidly spun around: powering a complex system of buckets and chains that brought water up from an underground source and poured it into a large basin that was filled with what looked like a dry clay.<p>

Every so often, a buzzer would sound and then a door on the side of the basin allowing two sluggish, misshapen homunculi to walk out and onto the factory floor for whatever task might have been at hand.

Matthew and Kumajirou took in all of the strange sights inside of the warehouse, careful not to get in anyone's way. Abruptly, "Oy! You two!" Matthew turned towards the back of the warehouse and looked up to see a rather fat woman in a blue dog-ear hat shouting down at them between bites of a candy bar, "What're you doing here in my factory?"

"Um..." Matthew gulped, Kumajirou pawing at his feet to remind him, "Oh, yes. I wanted to ask about Amoresque?"

"What's that?" The dog-ear hat called down, "You want to go to Club Amoresque?" She smirked as she looked the golden-haired youth up and down, "You'd stick out like a sore thumb there kid!But I bet you've heard about what goes on there from all your friends, huh?" She finished off her candy-bar, lips smeared with chocolate as she dug into a new one, "Anyway, that's a special place for all the factory workers to go after a hard day's work!"

Matthew's shoulders slumped. He knew it wouldn't be easy to get into the nightclub, but he couldn't let any of that stop him. "Then is there ay part-time work available?" He asked. Immediately, the woman nodded,

"I _do_ need someone to transport some of the homunculi from the lower-workings back up here to get recharged. Yeah..." She hummed, "Just go in the back and take the elevator down to the underground and round them up with this!" She reached into her pocket and tossed down a grey whistle. "Your face..." She whispered, looking at the teen, "There's something about it... So, you know what, just head back out here once you get four homunculi to the charging station and we'll talk."

"Alright." Matthew nodded, examining the whistle before he started towards the back of the warehouse.

"Hey, hold on a minute!" The dog-ear hat shouted, pointing a finger towards Kumajirou, "Animals have animal-jobs to keep them busy! Get to the cages!"

"_Why do _I_ have to work?"_ Kumajirou whined, Matthew kneeling down and reassuring his friend,

"Don't worry, it'll just be for a few hours and then we'll go. We have to help Sadiq, remember?" The polar bear groaned, rolling his eyes before he and Matthew parted ways.

* * *

><p>There was a complex system of mine-shafts and dusty corridors below the warehouse: workers and homunculi working hard to dig up clay to make more homunculi and ores to melt down into metal.<p>

Matthew looked around, trying to see if any of the homunculi were low on energy so he could hurry and round them up. He walked through three halls before he found one damn-near collapsing into a pool of dingy water.

"I guess there's no time like the present." After a taking a short breath, Matthew pressed the whistle between his lips and blew. The homunculus immediately began swaying towards the blonde, Matthew moving out of the way when it looked like it would collapse. "Okay, that's one."

* * *

><p>For the next two hours, Matthew directed the clumsy, slow being of water and clay around the mining-shafts as he tried to find its brethren. He found himself having to stop a few times, the dust from the clay causing the most awful coughs.<p>

However, before he knew it, he was piling four large clay homunculi into a cargo-elevator and managed to press the button to activate the lift before squeezing himself inside.

Personal space = non-existent for the ten minutes that Matthew had to stay in that cramped space: the homunculi occasionally groaning and twitching around him.

When the elevator gate opened, its inhabitants all spilled out: the blonde struggling to get himself out of the sticky, suffocating pile. No one came to help, hell, some of the factory workers even laughed at him.

Nonetheless, he made it out and walked forward a few steps into the first area of the factory, the homunculi following him since he still had the whistle. A woman working the reception-desk took her eyes off of her magazine long enough to explain, "Get those things to the charging station so you can go get paid. Freaking hicks..."

He could have said _so_ many things in response to that, but the blonde male settled for rolling his eyes and following the direction that the receptionist was swinging her foot in.

The charging station was a large room with a steel grate covering half of the floor, a series of electric rods hanging from the ceiling. The homunculi stepped away from the blonde and went to stand on the grating. On cue, the dog-ear hat behind the control-box pulled a lever: electricity surging down into the clay bodies. The force actually knocked Matthew back a bit, the light forcing him to shield his eyes.

A moment later and the process was done. The homunculi jumped off of the grating and marched back towards the mines for more work. No sooner did he turn around that he saw the fat dog-ear hat woman from before, "Well what do ya know? The kid actually did it!" Before he could even ask, Matthew blinked as red and purple slip of paper was held out in front of him. "Here's what you wanted when you came in here: one ticket to Club Amoresque!"

"Thank you." Matthew nodded, sliding the ticket inside of his pocket. But the woman wasn't done yet.

"You got a DragonScale card, right?" Matthew nodded, taking out the plastic card. The woman snatched it up and took it over to the receptionist with a, "You need to get paid, right?" While she was busy, Matthew decided to see how Kumajirou was doing in the animal-center. Luckily, there were signs that led to the room and he was soon greeted by a peculiar.

"_Are you,"_ Kumajirou panted, _"Done yet?"_ Matthew couldn't help but laugh a little as he saw the bear trying to keep up the pace with the treadmill that powered the factory, other animals roped into doing the same.

"Get over here," Matthew picked up the exhausted bear and walked back to the reception desk. Just in time too, the fat woman handed him back his card,

"That's 200 DragonScale for today. You should come back, make some more spending cash."

Matthew carefully placed the card in the same pocket as the ticket. "Thanks," He said, forcing a smile on his face, "I sure will."

"Yeah," The woman nodded, "But it's getting pretty late. I guess you'll be heading to Amoresque, huh?" Matthew looked out one of the barred windows, noticing that the sun had gone down over the horizon.

Without any further ado, he set Kumajirou on the ground and proceeded to leave the factory. Yet, just as he was about to pass the door, the blonde saw a familiar face. "Uncle Paul?" His redhead Uncle looked up at the mention of his name, his green eyes finally falling on Matthew.

"Oh Matthew! You've finally decided to get with the times, good on you!"

Matthew walked over, asking, "How are things at home? I haven't had the time to visit lately."

"Bah," Paul waved a hand in the air, "Chineme's busting my balls as usual. Ever since the Inn expanded into that giant hotel, she's been nagging 'when am I going to be someone important', 'she doesn't have to be married to a loser', 'why can't I be more like Ivan'..." The mention of that name sent a sickly chill down Matthew's spine, "So, I've decided to work hard here. My ultimate goal is to be one of the men in one of those dog-eared hats!"

"What..?" Matthew shook his head, "But why would you want to join _them_?" Paul shook his head at the youth's question,

"Matthew, really. You're just a stupid kid, so I wouldn't expect you to understand."

That struck a chord. "Really?" The wavy-haired blonde frowned, "_I'm_ the stupid one? Of course, I suppose that if it would take more than a bunch of shiny trinkets and false promises of power and 'happiness' to persuade me into changing my entire way of life then, yes, _I'm_ stupid."

With that, he was gone.

* * *

><p>Their next location was actually behind the factory, if the large blinking banner was any indication. "'For those seeking a wonderland of leisure and carnal delight'," Matthew couldn't help but roll his eyes, "'Club Amoresque is what you <em>need'<em>!"

He passed the large, technicolor archway that separated the rest of the area from the factory grounds. Kumajirou growled as they walked past a patch of odd flowers that actually followed their movements with their heads, gnashing misplaced teeth at the two.

They walked until Matthew couldn't help but look up at the massive structure that stood in front of them. It was a large tower that served as the base for the rope-way train that led to the summit where Amoresque was held. "It sure is..." Matthew gulped, "Pretty high." The swaying of the cart didn't do much to relinquish his fears either.

"Hi there~!" His attention was snapped back to the ground when a young woman dressed in a mini-dress that barely reached to mid-thigh and was emblazoned with the symbol of the Great Dog Empire smiled over at him from a stand by the tower, "You're heading to Club Amoresque, right?"

Matthew nodded, the girl giggling, "Then just give me your ticket and you can head right up!"

The large cart of steel and glass shook and trembled the whole way up, Matthew trying his hardest not to let the current atmosphere get to him even though he never did like heights. Kumajirou was laying on his lap and eventually had to growl, _"Stop shivering already..."_

On their way up, amethyst eyes looked out of the window and saw what appeared to be a tall, _tall_ tower with a golden spherical chamber on top: a strange sort of device mounted on top of it. "I wonder what that is." He murmured, flinching as he felt the cart stop.

They hadn't even walked out of the cart before Matthew had to shield his eyes from the bright lights of the oncoming building and the fireworks that the club managers set off every night to attract business.

And then, there it was. With two ceramic statues of dogs standing with the world underneath their paws on either side, Club Amoresque was a large, three-story building covered in decadent colors and flashing lights.

As Matthew and Kumajirou walked up to the the garish structure, they were soon stopped by two burly men dressed in black. "Hey, what's a kid like you doing up here?"

"Why does everyone call me a kid..?" Matthew rolled his eyes before he spoke up,

"I'd like to enter the club, if that's not too much trouble-"

"'Not too much trouble' he says!" The other guard laughed, "We don't allow pets in heres... Move along pipsqueak." That tore it. Matthew didn't know what happened, he clenched his teeth together as he gritted out, his voice echoing into the guards minds as his eyes glazed over in rose,

"_Listen here and listen good. You two are going to let me in without asking anymore insulting, stupid questions. Have I made myself clear..?_" An interesting thing happened then. The guards found themselves entranced by the blonde's eyes and his voice seemed to take hold of their brains.

"Yes sir..." They both swooned, opening the door for the two. Matthew quickly picked Kumajirou up from the ground and walked inside, nodding,

"Thank you very much."

When the doors closed behind the two, the noise jarred the guards out of their hypnosis. "Hey, what just happened here?"

"That punk must have used some sort of mumbo-jumbo on us! Grr... Let's get him!" The two musclebound morons were about to charge in after the blonde and his polar bear when they found themselves stopped by hands grabbing their shoulders. "Hey, who's cruisin' for a bruisin'?" When they turned, they yelped in panic as they saw two familiar faces, "Mr. Argent and Mr. Aureate?"

Both men were tall, toned in all the right places: Mr. Argent had white hair that caught the bright lights of the building despite the fact that it was slicked back and he was dressed to the nine in a silver suit while Mr. Aureate had his blonde hair messy as if he had just gotten out of a shower and his suit was a glimmering gold.

"Now just where were you two heading off to?" Mr. Argent smirked, his eyes hidden by a pair of sunglasses.

"You weren't thinking of leaving your posts," Mr. Aureate asked, his eyes also hidden behind sunglasses, "Were you?"

"No, no!" The two guards panicked, one of them going to open the door,

"Allow me to get the door for yous!" Once the door was open, Aureate and Argent walked inside. Once they were out of earshot of the guards, Aureate asked Argent,

"He's here, isn't he?" Argent's only response being a smirk and a nod.

* * *

><p>The walls of the lounge of Club Amoresque were covered in posters that advertised the music group <em>Bangles<em> and their fan-club. There were also statues of nude women and men in... _provocative_ poses. But Matthew hardly saw the décor.

All of a sudden, he nearly tripped over himself as a crippling fever took a hold of him. He had to quickly take a seat there in the lobby. _"What's wrong?"_ Kumajirou asked, pawing at the blonde's lap.

Matthew was too drained to explain, but he knew what it was. Liet had told him about the Fevers that he would be subject to every so often as a result as his psychic abilities maturing. "Damn it..." He whispered, wiping the sweat from his brow, "How long do these things last?"

The fever had his undivided attention, reducing the flashily dressed club-goers to blurs and sources of noise, so he didn't notice the white-haired figure sitting at the bar. However...

"_You can hear me right..?"_ The blonde flinched at the telepathic voice, almost afraid that Ivan was here but not seeing him. He mentally replied,

"_You're... speaking in my head, of course I can hear you..." _

"_Good. Listen, I want you to carefully turn around and look at me. In 3... 2... 1..."_ Matthew slowly turned around and saw Mr. Argent sitting at the bar behind him. However, the white-haired male lowered his sunglasses, revealing red eyes that winked at him before the glasses were replaced.

"_I..."_ Matthew began when he turned back around, _"I know you..." _

"_Of course you do, kesesese... No one can forget the awesomeness that is the Gold Feather Prince Gilbert!" _

"_Could you be a bit quieter, you're giving me a headache..." _

"_Oh, sorry... Anyway, bet you didn't expect to see me in a fruity outfit like this or a tacky building like this place huh..? Not to mention West looks ridiculous in that thing, kesesese..." _Luckily, at that moment the fever broke, allowing Matthew to focus his thoughts,

"_Why _are_ you here..?" _

"_Me and West will explain everything later. But, until then, smile! All that frowning on a pretty face will attract all of the wrong type of attention!"_

"Attention everyone," The voice of Mr. Aureate (Ludwig) called out via a microphone that one of the waitresses handed him, "_Bangles_ are about to get back on stage! Hurry und find a seat!"

Matthew sighed as Gilbert cackled in his mind, _"Well, you should go inside and get a seat before the place fills up. Go on, schnell!"_

"_Alright, I'm going..."_ Matthew replied, Kumajirou joining him as he followed the crowds back to the dance-floor/dining room. "But I'd better get some answers when all of this is said and done."


	26. Matthew Part 4

All around the lounge, people were either drinking alcohol, smoking, eating unhealthy food, or they were spending a good chunk of their money on the 'Happy Girls' (read as prostitutes) that were employed by the club.

Matthew covered his nose, coughing as the smell of grease, cigarette smoke, and sex was almost overpowering. As he walked, he recognized a few faces from Mirror Falls: there was Roderich smoking at the bar, Richard was being led by a Happy Girl into a private room, and, to top it all off, in the VIP box there was Vash and Chineme sitting with a group of other business people along with a massive dog-ear hat surrounded by Happy Girls.

"Hey!" The dog-ear hat called out, "Where's my encore, damn it? I want to see more _Bangles_!" One of the Happy Girls giggled,

"You tell 'em General Smasher..."

By the time Matthew finally found an empty table (one that would barely seat two people), the lights were dimming in preparation for the music encore that everyone was waiting for. "Well then," Matthew turned and saw Ludwig standing behind him, "What drink would you like tonight?"

"Um, I'm not a drinker." Matthew offered before asking, "Can I just get a glass of water?" A couple of passing Happy Girls giggled at the naïve request. The stern blonde rolled his eyes at them before stating,

"I'll get you a simple champagne." Before he could refuse, Ludwig was gone.

After that, everyone cheered as a group of four musicians walked onto the stage with instruments in hand. They all seemed to be desert-dwelling people, their skin tan and their hair dark, all except for the male with the tambourine.

Someone from the table behind Matthew's giggled, "Omega's hair _has_ to be wig! No one's hair is _that_ green!" Omega looked out over the audience through green hair with sleepy eyes and a tired expression before the band's leader announced to the audience, her voice smooth and lyrical,

"Good evening everyone! How are you all doing?"

"I LOVE YOU CLEO!" General Smasher bellowed out, the woman laughing,

"I'm sad to say that our time here is through for the night. But we shall part ways with one more song. It's 'The Theme of King Izzy'!" Cleo nodded to the guitarist that bore a strong semblance to her who began strumming out the opening notes of the song.

And then the rest of the band kicked in, Cleo singing lyrics of praise for this 'King Izzy' while Omega kept rhythm with his tambourine.

Though the music itself and its lyrics weren't Matthew's cup of tea, he could tell that there was a lot of emotion and passion being put into the performance. His focus was broken when there was a tap on his shoulder. He expected it to be the blonde in the golden suit, but it was Gilbert (still in disguise) who placed the wine glass on the table.

Yet, he didn't leave. Instead, he held out his hand with a smile: mentally conveying, _"Dance with me. We need to talk."_

"_I don't dance."_ Matthew turned his head. Gilbert wasn't deterred, however, he took Matthew's hand and pulled him away from the table and towards the dance-floor.

"_Don't?"_ Matthew could hear the smirk in the other's mind, _"Or can't?"_ The young blonde rolled his eyes,

"_You won't leave me alone unless I say 'yes', will you?"_ Gilbert merely chuckled once they were in the middle of all of the other dancers.

The music kicked up a notch, Matthew pulling against Gilbert's hand with vim. The albino was pulled flush against a body that moved and writhed in time with the music playing. For, you see, Jeanne had taught Matthew how to dance as he grew up, but he never had the opportunity to use it.

Gilbert was... shocked to say the least, but he never turned down an attractive body.

They moved together to the beat of the song for a few moments before Gilbert used his telepathy again. _"You've seen him right? The tambourine-player?"_ Matthew nodded,

"_He looks just like Heracles."_

"_After the band goes off-stage, don't leave... I'll come back to get you." _Gilbert added as the song ended, walking away as Matthew didn't even bother replying with more than a nod. Cleo and the disguised Heracles were busy signing autographs and Matthew decided to go back and find Kumajirou.

The polar bear was still sitting at the table, licking at the champagne as he whined, _"My ears are ringing..."_

"Come on you..." Matthew hefted the bear up, "I can't have you turning into an alcoholic.

"_Oh,"_ Kumajirou had something in the small pack that was kept on his back, _"One of the waitresses gave me a pamphlet for Bangles... I tried eating it, but it didn't taste very good."_

The blonde couldn't help the giggle that rose from his chest, "You're so silly..."

His hand was seized again, Gilbert making himself known before Matthew went on the offensive. "Come, let's get out of here."

* * *

><p>The albino and the polar bear-toting blonde walked down the halls of Club Amoresque, the amount of people lessening until they found Ludwig standing at an inconspicuous door. "Hurry!" He carefully looked around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping, "Come on, inside! Quickly now..."<p>

However, much to Matthew's surprise, the door led into a damp, dark, dripping hall. Kumajirou winced as it seemed that the floor almost seemed to... _move_.

"Where are we?" Matthew asked, looking around the dark passageway. Ludwig explained, leading the way: wading through muck and what turned out to be a colony of slugs,

"It's a passageway that we use to get to our room whenever the Club is too crowded."

The trek through the passage truly was convenient, in a few more moments the group had made it to the suite that was being shared by the two brothers.

"Ah man, that passage is so convenient but it always gets you covered in muck when you use it!" After that complaint, the two brothers shared a glance before whipping off their flashy suits: revealing their cloaks and simple outfits that they had managed to get replicated from their original versions. "That's more like it!" Gilbert laughed as he ruffled his hair, Ludwig making sure that he was free from any grime before going to the dresser and taking out a jar of hair gel to slick his hair back. When every blonde hair was in place he drew in a deep sigh.

Everything was nice, organized, perfect...

His eyes keyed in on the dirt trail that led to their guests. "Listen..." Ludwig's face turned into an uneasy grimace, "This room has an attached shower und hot-tub. You should take a bath before we talk..." Matthew shook his head,

"I really think that it would be better to just get everything out in the air." One of Ludwig's blue eyes twitched as they saw all the mud on Matthew's person,

"Uh... You're probably dirty... and exhausted... Go on and take a bath."

Matthew sighed, "There's time for that later-"

"Truth be told," Ludwig began anew, "You two are filthy. Please go take a nice, _refreshing bath..._"

"_What's with this guy and baths..?"_ Kumajirou asked Matthew, the young blonde shrugging his shoulders, not noticing the other's trembling from,

"I don't know, but the shower could wait—" Suddenly, the whole building quaked, the lights flickering on and off as Ludwig's emotions got the best of him: his psychic energies seizing the entire area as he screamed,

"JUST TAKE A VERDAMNTEN BATH ALREADY!" **( 1 )**

* * *

><p>"I came here looking for Heracles," Matthew explained once he and Kumajirou had finished a long, hot shower, "But I was surprised to find you two here. Weren't you traveling with that funny grey creature?"<p>

"Oh, Tony?" Gilbert asked, "Nah, we went our separate ways. I kept telling him that we should stay together, but he decided it would be better that way. Haven't heard from him since."

The room fell silent: the air-conditioning causing the only sound in the form of a continuous hum.

"Those people..." Matthew began after a moment, "The ones who wear the dog-ear hats. Why did they come here?" Deep in his mind, he couldn't help the spiteful whisper of,

"_They ruined everything..."_, that shot through. However, Gilbert stood to his feet and gave an answer of,

"We don't know that yet. Everything is so topsy-turvey. We just know that whatever they still want to do needs the Hummingbird Bird Egg!" He punched a fist into his open palm, "We have one hell of a fight up ahead. And the first thing we need to do is find Heracles so he can tell us what happened to the egg."

"The tambourine-player..." Matthew began, "He looks a lot like Heracles."

"The tambourine-player doesn't _look_ like Heracles, he _is_ Heracles." Ludwig insisted, taking a sip from a can of beer, "Every time that I've been in the same room as him, I've tried to see if he would recognize me, but it is almost as if his mind has been... wiped _clean._"

"I see..." Matthew gently rubbed Kumajirou between the ears. Surely, this was a lot of information to take in at once. But, he slowly nodded. "Then all I can do is help."

"_I need to be stronger..."_ He told himself, not caring if either of the brothers could hear it. Ludwig nodded, tossing the beer can into the garbage,

"Good. Then we need you to try and talk to Heracles and jog his memory and-"

"Mr. Argent! Mr. Aureate? We've got some lucky ladies who want to see you~!" A guard called from outside of the door.

"Shit!" Gilbert hissed, "This is just going to make things more complicated..." The albino prince quickly put his suit back on, grabbing the hair-gel from the counter and slicking his hair back as he walked to the door. "Westen, get Vogelchen out of here while I distract them."

"Ja." Ludwig nodded, rushing over to the farthest wall and slamming his fist against it. The portion of the wall flipped over to reveal a ladder that led up into darkness, "This ladder leads up to the attic. You can go through it und get to Heracles's room. It may take a while though, verdamnt..." Matthew didn't need to be told twice: he quickly hefted Kumajirou onto his back and began the climb up. Before he was gone, Ludwig quickly donned his own disguise, explaining, "I'll go get the members of _Bangles_ while the guards are distracted. They'll need to know the situation as well."

* * *

><p>Steaming hot pipes presented deadly hazards in the dark maze that was Amoresque's Attic System. As uneasy as the space made him feel, Matthew knew that he had to make it through this place and get to Heracles. But it was so dark, even Kumajirou was getting confused.<p>

The blonde jolted as there was a rustle behind him... And then another on his right. "Damn it, I need a light!" He hissed, banging a fist against the wall. However, that flare of emotion caused a bit of a glow to emanate from his hand. "What's that?" He asked before trying to focus his emotion and thought into his hand.

A warm, rose-tinted glow appeared, Matthew moving his hand in front of him as he and Kumajirou carefully traversed the attic.

They had walked for a good twenty minutes when Kumajirou suddenly flinched. "What is it – AH!" Matthew gritted his teeth as something fell from the ceiling and landed on his neck: sinking needle-sharp fangs into his skin.

Luckily he whipped it away, but the damage had already been done. He dizzily looked towards his assailant: a large, purple spider whose fangs dripped a viscous, grey ooze. "Damn it." Matthew hissed, swinging the spider away into the shadows with the stick he had found in the caves.

"_You okay?"_ Kumajirou asked, Matthew nodding,

"Yeah, let's... let's keep going..."

* * *

><p>However, they had barely made it into the next chamber of the attic when Matthew collapsed. "I can't..." He panted, his mouth dry and skin feeling clammy as he shivered, "I can't go any further..." The poison was taking full-effect and, in case that wasn't enough, a fever had taken a hold on his body. So, despite how much Kumajirou tried to pull his body along, Matthew could barely move an inch.<p>

"Maman..." He rasped, closing his eyes as images of the past flooded his mind.

"_Mattie..." Young Alfred whined as he watched his baby brother laying in bed, a damp cloth on his head and blankets tucked up to his neck. He had gotten a bad fever and had to be confined to bed while it ravaged his body. "When are you going to feel better?" _

"_I'm sorry Alfred..." Matthew rasped out, coughing a bit before he continued, "I know we were supposed to go play today, but I'm ruining it..." _

"_Enough of that." Both twins turned to see Francis walking into their room, a bowl of broth in his hands, "Alfred, if you want to go play so badly, go bother your father!" The messy-haired blonde pouted but walked off all the same. "Pouvre bebe..." Francis cooed, removing the cloth and wiping any moisture from the small child's head before taking a seat next to him. "I need you to open up now." _

"_Not hungry..." Matthew whined, Francis shaking his head, _

"_None of that. I need you to be nice and healed so you can go play. Now, open up. This soup is one of my original recipes, so it is sure to heal you up!"_

"_Okay..." Matthew opened his mouth up wide, his Maman slipping a spoon of warm broth inside. _

_It tasted good._

Matthew opened his eyes, feeling his body slowly regain function as he felt a warmth rush over him. Raising his arm, he saw that the rose glow that he had been using to light their path was moving over his entire body.

"_Shiny..."_ Kumajirou commented, sitting on his rump. A moment later, the glow shrank back to the blonde's hand.

"What was that?" Matthew questioned before standing up, noticing that he could move. "Could it have been the healing power that Liet told me I would be able to do?" Deciding not to ask anymore questions, he and Kumajirou walked into the next chamber.

It was here where they saw something quite unusual.

It was an electric guitar, much like the guitarist for _Bangles_ used on stage. However, this was was cracked in a few places, dusty, and... Matthew could have sworn he heard it _crying_. _"Why~?"_ It sobbed, _"Why did he have to abandon me?"_

"Um..." Matthew blinked, trying to gently walk around the floating, weeping guitar, "I think we're just going to go now."

"_Why did he leave me~?"_ The guitar sobbed, hitting itself against the floor and sending a thunder-wave towards the two. Matthew grabbed Kumajirou and jumped into the next corridor before the electricity could hit.

But they weren't in the clear yet. The next area had two drums that rolled over to them and peeked at them with beady eyes. "What _are_ all of you?" Matthew had to ask. But the drums rolled towards the two, knocking Matthew into a wall and sending Kumajirou flying.

"_ENOUGH!"_ That roar of a voice echoed through Matthew and Kumajirou's senses. The source of it rolled in, cymbals crashing against each other until it sat up on its side. It was... a large, sheepskin, vintage tambourine.

"I don't need to ask," Matthew stood his ground, "If you can understand me. You're already talking to me." The tambourine nodded,

"_As you can see, I am but a simple tambourine. However, I am STILL in my prime!"_ It shook itself, the chiming noise of its cymbals echoing through the room. _"But! Ever since that shiny new trinket of a tambourine downstairs showed up, I've been tossed aside in this mildew-infested attic to ROT!"_

At that yell, the weeping guitar and the two drums came to the tambourine's side. _"My frustrations have become so immense that the other abandoned instruments have rallied beside me to plot REVENGE!"_

"Revenge for _what_?" Matthew snapped, rose-shaded energy crackling around his fists, "You're just causing all the inhabitants of this attic to go crazy with your unbridled emotion!"

"_ENOUGH!"_ The tambourine shook itself, _"You two shall feel the WRATH of the Jealous Tambourine and my disciples of revenge!"_ The weeping guitar sobbed as it sent forth a bolt of electricity, Matthew and Kumajirou scattering to avoid the attack.

On his side of things, the polar bear reached into the pack on his back and tossed a thunder bomb at the group of instruments: a bright flash of colored lights causing them all to groan in agony.

"_Wretched fools!"_ The Jealous Tambourine snapped before shaking himself: creating a sound-wave that rippled through the two living bodies, Kumajirou whining as the noise made his head and stomach hurt. Then the two drums revved up and rolled right into the both of them. And before the blonde could even get his bearings, he was shocked by a bolt of electricity.

"_HA! Do you see how futile your attempts are?"_

His body still sparking, Matthew struggled to stand to his feet. "I'm sorry..." He gritted out, "But I'm afraid that the word futile _isn't_ in my family's vocabulary!" His amethyst eyes glazed over in rose, energy of the same color swirling around his fists. "PK Love... ALPHA!" He shouted out before sending the energy forth: its power reducing the drums and guitar to ashes,

"_WHAT?"_ The Jealous Tambourine howled, _"How is this possible?"_

Matthew shook his head, the force put into the attack knocking him for a bit of a loop, "Truth be told, _I'm_ not entirely sure."

The Jealous Tambourine growled before shaking up a storm before shaking itself in a slow, gentle rhythm. "What is he doing?" Matthew asked, turning towards Kumajirou... "Kumajirou!"

The bear had been lulled to sleep by the hypnotic tone of the instrument, snoring away and leaving Matthew to fight the infuriated instrument in front of them.

"_I'll sing at your FUNERAL!"_ The Jealous Tambourine roared, rolling towards the blonde. Just before he hit, however, Matthew quickly sidestepped to the left: eyes going Rose again before sending another attack out.

When it hit, the tambourine was shocked still: its body slowly being ripped apart. It's final words:

"_I just wanted... to make... music..."_

And then it was gone.

The moment the tambourine vanished, Kumajirou was awoken from his hypnosis. _"What the heck was that all about?"_ Matthew merely shook his head, feeling the tense emotions of the tambourine finally dissipate. _"Hey, look."_ Matthew noted that there was a hole in the floor where the tambourine used to be. He could also hear familiar voices.

So, grabbing Kumajirou and settling him on his back, Matthew slowly climbed down...

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**( 1 ) Mother 3 just has too many moments that can be referenced, it's ridiculous. **

**-Tyranno's girl.**


	27. Matthew Part 5

Inside the room, the members of _Bangles_ were all standing around their tambourine-player: the green-haired Heracles look-alike staring at Gilbert and Ludwig with wide eyes. Abruptly, the tense mood was shattered by Matthew, literally, dropping in.

"What took you so long?" Gilbert smirked, Matthew frowning,

"Please don't ask stupid questions."

"Anyway..." Ludwig cleared his throat, "We have just finished explaining everything to the members of the band and..." He was interrupted by the front-liner of the band walking over to Matthew. The blonde looked at the dark-haired woman before she smiled,

"So you're the one trying to run off with our tambourine player." Cleo may have been saying something completely different, in her mind Matthew heard, _"So young... A child to be thrown in the midst of such a prophesy and war. Oh, but if he is one of the chosen two, he's probably hearing everything I'm saying."_

"Excuse me," The Heracles look-alike spoke up, yawning, "But could someone _please_ explain to me what's going on?" The two Princes looked at each other before the albino asked,

"Can you explain what you just told us to the vogelchen here?"

"Well," The green-haired male sighed, "I guess. I can tell something really big is going down here. Let's see... Ten years ago I woke up in the middle of nowhere, no memory, no recollection of my own name even... But, for some reason I was holding a strange egg to my chest with great care. Still unsure where I was going, I began walking. I walked and walked, only knowing that the egg was important. It needed to be kept safe, so I hid it. It was when I came to some quarry that I buried it in a random dirt clod. I was sure no one would find it."

"Great..." Gilbert groaned, "Now we'll _never_ find it!"

"Oh, I never said I forgot about it. I know exactly where it is." The Heracles look-alike interjected, "You go up a mountain, across a valley, and when you can see the top of the strange building near Club Amoresque-"

"The Obscure Valley!" Ludwig clenched his fist, "That's it! The Egg we need has to be there, let's go und get it as soon as possible!"

However, the tambourine-player stood to his feet and spoke up, "And then what? If what you told me is true, my real name is Heracles. If I go with you, what happens to _Bangles_? And then, if I don't go with you, what about this egg-thing you're so worried about?" He clutched at his scalp, gritting his teeth, "God, I'm so confused! I wish something could show me the way!"

The room fell silent after that outburst.

Then...

"There is _one_ way." Cleo smiled.

* * *

><p>Everyone in the room sat around a crystal ball, the private possession of the band leader. "This was a present to me from the Magypsie Ukra. She said that if I ever met a child with the power of PK Love, I should allow them to see this ball. All things would be made clear."<p>

Matthew gulped, looking towards the pristine ball. It was perfectly round, perfectly clear, perfectly shiny. Gulping down air, he closed his eyes. He really didn't have _any_ idea what he was doing, but he had to try something.

But what?

He wished that one of his family members was there with him.

Everyone in the room noted that a bright, pink spark appeared in the ball.

His Papa was smart, he could have thought of something. And Maman was very clever. He wished that he had inherited some of his cleverness.

The pink spark grew into a rose glow that filled the entire sphere and actually began to pulsate from it.

All this thinking about his family led to Matthew thinking about Alfred. He _knew_ he wasn't dead, just like his Papa did. But he just didn't know _where_ he was. And Arthur's wandering around the countryside like a madman looking for him wasn't going to help matters in the least!

"Hit the dirt!" Gilbert shouted, ducking along with everyone else when the crystal ball shining red before it jumped into the air and shattered into a million pieces.

"What happened?" Matthew asked, opening his eyes and looking around. Upon seeing the remains of the ball, he gasped, "I'm sorry! I'm _so_ sorry!" But the band leader merely chuckled,

"Well, I suppose that destiny has shown us the way. Heracles?" The tambourine player took a while to respond, the name still foreign to him,

"Y-yes?" He looked up at the dark-haired woman, her skin a bronze tan that betrayed a life in the desert,

"Now is the time in which we part, I'm afraid. I always knew this day would come, depsite you looking so much like the friend I lost so long ago. However," Cleo wiped her eyes, memories of Heracles's mother blurring her vision, "This is no time to blubber. You have to go and help these young men fufill the roles that destiny has laid out for you."

The two other members of _Bangles_ began sobbing and crying, "You were the best tambourine-player ever!"

"We'll miss you buddy!"

"No matter where you go in this wide world, you'd better not forget about us!" The band-leader winked, Heracles nodding: tears dripping from his eyes.

"Alright then," Gilbert and Ludwig once again donned their normal clothes: looking like the Gold Feather Princes once more; Ludwig rushing out of the door, stating,

"I shall go make sure the way is clear." Yet, as soon as he closed the door behind him, there was a shout of, "GET OUT OF MY WAY, DAMN IT!", followed by a shock of energy that shook the entire building.

* * *

><p>When Matthew, Gilbert, Kumajirou, and Heracles walked out into the hallway, they found the bodies of a few guards laying about. "Well," Gilbert whistled, resting his arms on his shoulders, "I guess its time for us to get the hell out of here, huh? Kesesese!"<p>

That's just what the new group did: following the halls that led out of the nightclub. They had arrived in the now empty lobby when Heracles noticed something and rushed over to the lounge door. "What is it?" Matthew asked, following him.

Heracles sniffed back tears as he looked in through the round window, "There's someone on-stage."

* * *

><p>The 'someones' turned out to be <em>Bangles<em>, Cleo walking up to the microphone and belting out,

"_Farewell, oh precious child... _

_May God watch over you... _

_May your mother bestow her graces_

_Wherever you may tread... _

_Farewell, oh precious child... _

_How the days seemed to wash by... _

_But God, please keep him safe... _

_I bid you farewell..._

_Farewell, oh precious child..."_

* * *

><p>Out in the lobby, Heracles couldn't help the tears that washed down his face at the heart-wrenching words and the emotions behind them. Gilbert bit his lip before gently leading Matthew outside, Ludwig doing the same to Kumajirou so the brunette could be alone.<p>

As he stood there, in remembrance, Heracles found himself flashing back to when he wandered onto the doorstep of Club Amoresque: tired, dirty, and hungry. The guards immediately tried to kick him out: beating him to a pulp until _Bangles_ rushed in and intervened: the gorgeous band leader chastising the guards before she helped the youth to her room.

* * *

><p><em>"Here you go..." She smiled as she fitted the green wig onto Heracles's head, handing him a tambourine, "Do you think that you can learn to play this?" He nodded.<em>

* * *

><p>"Farewell..." Heracles sniffled, "Farewell... And thank you. With all that I am," He reached up to grab at his green hair, "Thank you." Then, he pulled the wig away, freeing his wavy, brown locks into the air once more. He folded the wig up and set it beside the door.<p>

Then, with a heavy heart, he left Club Amoresque once and for all.

* * *

><p>When he got outside, the others were waiting for him. "Are you okay?" Matthew asked, Heracles nodding as he wiped his face,<p>

"Yeah. Sorry to... keep you guys waiting. Let's-" He abruptly fell over into a nap. Ludwig shook his head, Kumajirou rolling his eyes,

"_That's him alright..."_

As Ludwig and Gilbert tried to wake Heracles up, Matthew walked away a few feet and reached into his satchel for the messenger pigeon Sadiq had given him.

"_Has my time to be useful arrived, coo coo?"_ She asked, Matthew nodding,

"Go tell Sadiq that we've found his son." The blonde tossing the bird up into the air before she flew off in the direction of Mirror Falls.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

**This saga is over and we've found Heracles! Yay! He has amnesia, but he's back in the picture! Things can only get better from here right? **

**Oh, and Cleo was supposed to be Ancient Egypt. I couldn't think of any better name. Meep.**

**Huh... The whole crystal ball thing was really my only change (besides the dancing in the lounge) to this part of the saga because in the game... * sigh * They settle it with a game of rock-paper-scissors, I shit you not. **

**Well, the next update will continue the adventure and we will find out more about the changes happening to Sanctu Island. Thanks for reading, if you have time leave a review! **

**-Tyranno's girl. **


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